Mm 


LIBRARY 

ON1VEK5ITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 


EARTH 

SCIENCES 
LIBRARY 


Sc'ENC«£ 


GIFT  OF 

WILLIAM  DILLER  MATTHEW 


WILLIAM    DILLER  MATTHEW 


' 


h  . 


of  the  Boston  Socictv  of  tlatural  SHiston?. 

\'i>i.i  MI:  s,   NfMiiKii  2. 


s  on  tbc  IHatural  ftistorv?  of  IRew 


THK    \VIIAI. KI'.ONK    \V  1 1. M.MS    OF    XM\V    MNCLANI). 


I5v    CLOVKI!    M.    AI.LKX. 


\\rni  MM; 


BOSTON: 

rmvi  i:n  i mi  THE  -  \vrri!  AID 

•I'm:  i;i  RDON  < AI/I'ONS'I'AI.I,  BUND. 

'Mr,. 


flDemoirs  of  tbe  Boston  Society  of  Ittatural  Wtstorg. 

VOLUME  8,  NUMBER  2. 


flDonoorapbs  on  tbe  IWatural  IMston?  of  flew 


THE   WHALEBONE   WHALES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND. 


BY  GLOVER  M.   ALLEN. 


WITH   NINE  PLATES. 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  SOCIETY  WITH  AID  FROM 
THE  GURDON  SALTONSTALL  FUND. 

Sri'TKMHER,     1910. 


_«.  • 


CONTENTS. 

CA..I  . 

Introduction 109 

Tin-  Whalebone  Whales 110 

Whalebone  Whales  of  New  England Ill 

Kr\  for  Identification  of  Stranded  Specimens 112 

Field  Key  to  Whalebone  Whales  of  New  England 113 

NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE  (Eubalacna  glacialis) 114 

History  and  Nomenclature 114               New  England  Right  Whale  Fishery    .     .     .  145 

Vernacular  Names 115  Early  Whaling  at  Cape  Cod  and  Massa- 

Description 116                      chusetts  Bay 146 

Form 116                  The  Whale-viewer 152 

Color 117                  Whaling  Accidents 154 

Hair 118                  Ministers'  Salaries 156 

Baleen 118                  Strife  over  Drift  Whales 156 

External  Measurements 118                   Employment  of  Cape  Cod  Indians       .     .  158 

Skeleton 120                   Decline  of  Cape  Cod  Whaling     ....  158 

Appearance  and  Actions 125                   Methods  of  Whaling 1(50 

Spout 125                  Early  Whaling  at  Cape  Ann 162 

Schools       125  Whaling    at    Nantucket    and    Martha's 

Disposition 126                     Vineyard 163 

Food 128                  Early  Whaling  in  Rhode  Island       ...  168 

Stranding 129                   Whaling  in  Connecticut 170 

Breeding  Habits       129               Yield  of  Oil  and  Baleen 170 

Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters    .     .     .     131               Enemies  and  Parasites       ....          .     .  172 

Former  Abundance 131               Jonah  and  the  Whale 174 

Seasonal  Occurrence 132              An  Indian  Totem 174 

Fossil  Remains 144 

COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE  (Balaenoptera  physalus)       176 

History  and  Nomenclature 177                   Skeleton 186 

Vernacular  Names 179               Movements  and  Spouting 192 

Description 180              Schools 194 

Form 180              Rest       195 

Plicae 180              Accidents  and  Fatalities 19.~> 

<'<>lor 181               Food 200 

Hair ' 182              Breeding  Habits  and  Young 204 

Baleen 182              Range 205 

Kxternal  Measurements 183               Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters    .     .     .  206 

Weight 184              Finback  Whaling  on  the  New  England  Coast  222 

Auditory  Apparatus 185               Commercial  Value 231 

Musculature 185               Enemies  and  Parasites 233 

Visceral  Anatomy 186 

Rrnoi. nil's  RORQUAL  (Buliin/n/^ra  liomili.i) 234 

History  and  Nomenclature 234                Description 235 

Vernacular  Names 235                   Form       2:5.") 

Illustrations 235                   Plicae 230 

(107) 


7.34597 


108  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Color 235  Occurrence  in  the  Western  Atlantic      .     .  239 

Hair   .     .  - 236  Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters    .     .     .  239 

Baleen 236  Habits 240 

External  Measurements 236  Food 241 

Skeleton 237  Commercial  Value 241 

Range 238  Enemies  and  Parasites 242 

BLUE  WHALE  (Balaenoptera  mwculus) 243 

History  and  Nomenclature 243  Musculature 250 

Vernacular  Names  . 245  Skeleton 251 

Description 245  Habits 252 

Plicae 246  Longevity        254 

Color 246  Food 254 

Hair        247  Breeding  Habits       254 

Baleen 248  Geographic  Distribution 255 

Weight 248  Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters    .     .     .  256 

External  Measurements 249  Enemies  and  Parasites 257 

LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE  (Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata) 258 

History  and  Nomenclature 258  Visceral  Anatomy      ...          ....  267 

Vernacular  Names 260  Skeleton                ....  268 

Description 261  Appearance  and  Actions       272 

Plicae 261          Food 273 

Color 261  Breeding  Habits 274 

Hair ....  261  Geographic  Distribution 274 

Baleen 263  Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters  ....  275 

External  Measurements 263          Economic  Value 280 

Musculature 264  Enemies  and  Parasites 280 

THE  FOSSIL  FINBACK  OF  GAY  HEAD  (^Balaenoptera  fsursiplana) 282 

Occurrence  of  the  Fossils        282  Miocene  Conditions 284 

Indian  Myth  of  their  Origin 283  Economic  Value  of  the  Bone-bearing  Strata  285 

Age  of  the  Fossils 284  Descriptions 285 

ATLANTIC  HUMPBACK  WHALE  (Megaptera  nodosa) 288 

History  and  Nomenclature 288  Appearance  and  Actions 299 

Vernacular  Names 290  The  Whale  and  Swordfish  Story  ...  301 

Description 291  Voice        302 

Form 291  Accompanying  Vessels 303 

Vestiges  of  Teeth 292  Food 303 

Weight 292  Breeding  Habits       304 

Color 292  Longevity        305 

Hair 293  Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters    .     .     .  305 

Baleen 293  Humpback  Whale  Fishery  in  New  England 

External  Measurements      ......  293  Waters 311 

Musculature 295  Yield  of  Oil 315 

Skeleton 296  Enemies  and  Parasites 315 

LITERATURE 317 


INTRODUCTION. 

IN  THE  year  1725,  Paul  Dudley,  an  eminent  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  communicated  to  the 
Royal  Society  of  London  "an  Essay  upon  the  Natural  History  of  Whales."  This  account,  he 
tells  us,  "respects  only  such  Whales  as  are  found  on  the  Coast  of  New-England.  And  of  these 
there  are  divers  Sorts."  His  information,  though  apparently  taken  for  the  most  part  at  second 
hand,  was  none  the  less  substantially  accurate,  and  his  paper  forms  a  landmark  in  the  early 
history  of  cetology.  Many  of  the  naturalists  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  indebted  to  it  for 
the  accounts  of  whales  in  their  compilations.  Since  that  early  date  the  literature  on  whales  and 
whaling  has  multiplied  to  an  appalling  degree,  so  that  at  the  present  day  there, is.  probably  RP 
other  order  of  mammals  of  which  so  much  has  been  written,  but  so  little  is  accurately  known.' 
For  whales  cannot  be  observed  or  compared  at  will  or  without  much  labor.  -.Yet. at  tlie £resejit;  ; 
day,  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  the  larger  living  species  are  clearly  differentiated  and  that  it 
remains  to  fill  in  the  many  details  of  their  life  histories,  their  distribution,  variation,  and  com- 
parative anatomy.  The  influence  of  whaling  on  the  development  of  naval  skill  and  on  commerce 
and  exploration  need  only  be  mentioned  to  recall  the  universal  and  romantic  interest  of  this 
pursuit.  For  a  great  part  of  the  two  past  centuries,  whaling  has  been  a  characteristic  occupa- 
tion  of  the  New  England  seamen,  and  notwithstanding  the  diminution  in  number  of  whales 
and  the  lessened  market  for  their  products,  a  few  vessels  still  clear  from  New  Bedford  for  the 
fishery  in  tropic  and  arctic  seas. 

The  present  account  aims  to  give  a  general  description  of  the  species  of  whalebone  whales 
inhabiting  the  waters  off  the  New  England  coast,  together  with  a  summary  of  what  is  known 
of  their  habits  and  particularly  of  their  occurrence  and  importance  within  the  New  England 
limits. 

The  full-page  plates  illustrating  the  several  species  are  drawn  by  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake, 
who,  to  his  rare  artistic  skill,  brings  also  a  considerable  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  appearance 
of  cetaceans.  All  these  figures  are  drawn  very  carefully  to  scale  from  actual  measurements, 
in  part  taken  by  himself,  in  part  by  us  both,  or  from  the  tables  of  dimensions  in  Dr.  True's 
(1904)  monumental  work  on  the  Western  Atlantic  whales.  As  representations  of  the  general 
appearance  and  proportions  of  these  huge  mammals,  I  believe  they  are  the  best  figures  hitherto 
made.  For  photographs  of  stranded  whales,  even  though  taken  from  well  chosen  points,  fail 
to  show  the  outlines  of  the  living  animal.  I  am  further  indebted  to  Mr.  Blake  for  many  valuable 
notes  on  several  of  the  species.  Acknowledgements  are  also  gratefully  made  to  the  Museum 
of  Comparative  Zoology  for  the  privilege  of  studying  and  recording  specimens  in  its  collection, 
and  to  various  observers  whose  names  appear  in  the  pages  following,  in  connection  with  notes 
they  have  furnished  me. 

(109) 


110  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


THE  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

The  living  Cetacea  comprise  two  well  defined  groups  or  suborders,  the  toothed  whales  or 
Odontoceti,  and  the  whalebone  whales  or  Mystacoceti.  To  the  former  group  belong  the  Dol- 
phins (Delphinidae) ,  the  Sperm  Whales  (Physeteridae),  and  the  Beaked  Whales  (Ziphiidae). 
To  the  latter  group  belong  those  that  instead  of  functional  teeth  have  whalebone  plates  depend- 
ing from  the  roof  of  the  mouth.  Three  families  of  whalebone  whales  are  currently  recognized: 
the  Balaenidae  (Right  Whales),  Balaenopteridae  (Finback  Whales),  and  Rhachianectidae  (Gray 
Whale).  That  the  whalebone  whales  sprang  from  toothed  forms  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
• ; ;  vestiges  ef  the'  original  teeth  are  found  within  the  gums  of  the  embryo.  Probably  both  groups 
are  ^of  common  ancestry,  although  this  must  be  very  remote  in  time.  In  many  respects  the 
•  Tvha'lebone  whales  have  become  more  modified  than  the  toothed  whales.  Thus  they  have  lost 
their  teeth,  developed  whalebone  or  baleen  in  their  stead,  have  in  some  genera  suffered  reduction 
of  the  fingers  in  the  skeleton,  the  sternum  and  the  sternal  ribs  have  nearly  disappeared  and 
the  true  ribs  have  largely  lost  their  capitular  processes.  On  the  other  hand  they  have  retained 
so  primitive  a  feature  as  a  double  blowhole,  corresponding  to  the  two  nostrils,  whereas  in  all 
living  Odontocetes  the  blowhole  is  single.  They  also  retain  a  considerable  number  of  hairs  on 
the  head,  even  in  the  adult,  whereas  in  the  toothed  whales,  the  few  vestiges  of  hairs  are  early 
lost. 

Four  genera  of  baleen  whales  are  now  recognized  as  occurring  in  the  North  Atlantic: 
Balaena,  Eubalaena,  Balaenoptera,  and  Megaptera.  The  first-named  includes  only  the  single 
species,  Balaena  mysticetus,  the  Bowhead  or  Arctic  Whale.  It  is  characterized  by  its  enormous 
head  which  comprises  a  third  of  the  total  length,  and  its  greatly  arched  upper  jaw  with  its 
narrow  plates  of  whalebone  reaching  fifteen  feet  in  length.  This  species  is  typically  an  ice 
whale,  and  follows  the  edge  of  the  pack-ice  in  the  circumpolar  waters  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.  In 
former  times  it  was  common  as  far  south  as  Newfoundland  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  but 
is  not  certainly  known  from  New  England  (but  see  pp.  134,  135  for  possible  records). 

Closely  related  to  this  is  Eubalaena,  the  Right  Whale,  characterized  by  its  much  shorter 
head  in  proportion,  and  its  less  arched  skull.  Both  genera  have  a  number  of  unspecialized 
characters  as  compared  with  the  Finbacks  (Balaenoptera)  including  the  lack  of  a  dorsal  fin, 
absence  of  throat  folds,  the  presence  of  the  typical  five  fingers  in  the  hand,  the  greater  number 
of  ribs  that  retain  a  double  articulation  with  the  vertebrae,  and  the  relatively  considerable 
size  of  the  vestigial  femur  or  thigh  bone.  On  the  other  hand  the  partial  fusion  of  the  neck 
vertebrae,  the  extraordinary  narrowing  of  the  rostral  portion  of  the  cranium,  and  the  great 
convex  curvature  of  this  part  of  the  skull  correlated  with  the  long  whalebone  plates  are  features 
of  high  specialization  over  the  conditions  seen  in  other  whalebone  whales.  To  these  characters 


\\II.\LKBONE\YHALES.  Ill 

may  be  added  the  lack  of  a  distinct  coronoid  process  to  the  jaw.  The  two  genera  are  usually 
grouped  in  :i  distinct  family,  the  Balaenidae. 

The  genera  Balaenoptera  (Finback  Whales)  and  Megaptera  (Humpbacks)  are  less  closely 
related  to  the  two  genera  preceding  than  to  each  other  and  are  united  to  form  a  distinct  family 
(Balaenopteridae).  They  agree  in  having  the  rostral  part  of  the  skull  broad  at  the  base,  and 
i  apcring  toward  the  snout,  without  the  great  arching  seen  in  Balaena  and  Eubalaena;  the 
number  of  fingers  is  reduced  to  four,  the  throat  is  grooved  by  numerous  longitudinal  folds  for 
the  expansion  of  the  great  gular  bag,  and  there  is  an  adipose  fin  (often  poorly  developed 
in  Megaptera)  at  the  lower  part  of  the  back.  All  the  neck  vertebrae,  in  addition,  are  practically 
free,  or  at  most  some  of  them  are  slightly  fused  by  the  tips  of  their  processes,  and  there  is  a 
prominent  coronoid  process  on  the  lower  jaw.  Megaptera  presents  a  curious  combination  of 
characters,  specialized  and  unspecialized,  as  compared  with  Balaenoptera.  Its  chief  distinctive 
features  are  its  greatly  developed  pectoral  limb,  of  extraordinary  length,  and  the  loss  of  acro- 
mion  and  coracoid,  the  two  processes  of  the  shoulder  blade.  In  respect  of  these  points,  it 
surpasses  Balaenoptera  in  specialization.  On  the  other  hand  it  shows  a  less  degree  of  develop- 
ment in  its  short  body,  the  small  number  of  throat  folds,  and  the  many  hairs  on  the  head- 
The  dorsal  fin  is  of  somewhat  less  definite  form  also. 

The  third  family  of  baleen  whales  (Rhachianectidae)  is  represented  by  but  a  single  living 
species,  the  California  Gray  Whale  (Rhachianectes  glaucus),  confined  to  the  North  Pacific. 

WHALEBONE  WHALES  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Of  the  four  genera  of  baleen  whales  known  from  the  North  Atlantic,  Balaena  —  with  its 
single  species  B.  mysticetus,  the  Bowhead  or  Greenland  Whale  —  seems  entirely  confined  to 
Arctic  waters,  and  though  it  formerly  followed  the  cold  current  from  Baffin's  Bay  south  into 
the  St.  Lawrence  Gulf,  it  is  unlikely  that  it  reached  New  England  within  historic  times.  Of 
the  three  remaining  genera,  Eubalaena  and  Megaptera  are  represented  north  of  the  equator 
by  a  single  species  each,  and  Balaenoptera  is  accredited  with  four.  All  of  these  six  species 
have  been  ascertained  to  occur  within  the  New  England  limits.  They  are  seen  occasionally 
in  the  near-shore  waters  but  more  often  at  a  distance  of  some  miles  from  land;  or  dead  ones 
from  time  to  time  are  cast  ashore  by  the  tide. 

Of  these  six  living  species  occurring  in  the  North  Atlantic  Ocean,  closely  allied  if  not  identi- 
cal representatives  are  now  known  from  the  South  Atlantic  and  from  the  Pacific  Oceans. 
Separate  names  have  been  given  them  by  naturalists,  so  that  a  multiplicity  of  species  is  now 
nominally  recognized,  where  in  all  probability  there  is  practical  identity.  The  late  Sir  William 
Turner,  an  eminent  authority  on  whales,  has  lately  (1913,  1914)  stated  his  belief  that  all  these 
species  are  cosmopolitan,  and  this  indeed  seems  likely  to  prove  the  case.  Until  this  can  be 


112  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

more  definitely  shown,  however,  through  actual  comparison  of  a  sufficient  series  of  measure- 
ments and  photographs,  it  is  not  here  taken  for  granted,  and  in  the  synonymy  of  each  species 
are  included  those  names  only  that  have  been  given  to  the  North  Atlantic  whales. 

One's  first  view  of  a  whale  at  sea  is  apt  to  be  disappointing  (Plate  13,  figs.  3-5).  Instead 
of  the  huge  bulk  floating  lightly  on  the  surface,  and  spouting  a  great  column  of  water  that 
divides  neatly  into  two  streams  in  its  descent,  as  pictured  in  our  older  books  of  natural  history, 
one  sees  a  sharp  jet  of  vapour  like  a  puff  of  steam,  has  a  brief  glimpse  of  a  low  black  object  like 
a  floating  spar,  followed  perhaps  by  a  projecting  fin  or  tail  and  the  whale  has  gone  down.  A 
stranded  whale  is  usually  an  object  of  much  local  interest  and  is  heralded  in  the  newspapers 
with  a  more  or  less  inaccurate  account  of  its  striking  peculiarities.  The  chief  matter  of 
moment  is  its  size,  of  which  the  largest  estimate  is  the  one  generally  accepted,  while  various 
guesses  are  made  as  to  the  species  it  represents.  The  following  artificial  key,  based  on 
characters  easily  observable  in  a  stranded  specimen,  will  serve  to  identify  any  of  the  species 
known  from  our  waters. 

Key  for  Identification  of  Stranded  Specimens. 

1.  No  fleshy  fin  at  the  lower  part  of  the  back;    breast  flipper  rather  squarish  in  outline;    no  longitudinal 
grooves  or  folds  on  throat;   whalebone  blackish  with  dark  brown  bristles  on  inner  free  edge. 

North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  (Eubalacna  glacialis). 

A  fleshy  protuberance  or  fin  at  the  lower  part  of  the  back;   breast  flipper  narrow;   the  throat  with  longi- 
tudinal grooves 2. 

2.  Breast  flipper  or  pectoral  fin  very  long  (one  third  total  length),  its  fore  edge  knobbed;   folds  on  throat 
few  (about  14  to  30);  dorsal  fin  low  and  thick  at  its  base;  hinder  edge  of  flukes  crenulate. 

Humpback   (Megaptera  nodosa). 
Pectoral  short,  about  a  tenth  or  less  of  total  length,  its  outline  not  knobbed;  throat  folds  numerous 3. 

3.  Size  small,  not  over  thirty  feet  in  length;  a  broad  whitish  band  on  middle  portion  of  pectoral  fin;  whale- 
bone plates  and  their  bristles  yellowish  white Little  Piked  Whale  (Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata) . 

Size  large,  over  40  feet,  no  white  band  on  pectoral,  whalebone  not  entirely  yellowish  white 4. 

4.  Color  dark  gray  or  bluish  gray,  with  scattered  small  spots  or  marblings  of  white;  size  large,  up  to  80  feet; 
dorsal  fin  usually  small  and  far  back;  whalebone  plates  including  their  coarse  bristles  jet  black. 

Blue   Whale    (Balaenoptera   musculm). 
Color  dark  gray  above  but  central  area  of  belly  pure  white ;  dorsal  fin  high  and  falcate 5. 

5.  Whalebone  plates  particolor,  streaked  vertically  with  purple  and  yellowish  white,  those  at  the  front  end 
of  the  right-hand  side  all  white;   bristles  on  the  inner  side  coarse  and  whitish. 

Common  Finback  (Balaenoptera  physalus). 
Whalebone  plates  entirely  black,  but  their  bristles  at  the  inner  edge  very  fine  and  white. 

Pollack  Whale  (Balaenoptera  borealis). 

The  identification  of  whales  at  sea  is  often  a  difficult  matter,  but  with  careful  observation, 
it  is  possible  under  favorable  circumstances,  to  determine  the  species  by  noting  its  characteristic 
actions.  In  many  cases,  however,  this  is  quite  out  of  the  question  where  but  a  momentary 
glimpse  is  had.  On  the  other  hand,  the  whales  may  be  in  sight  at  close  range  for  many  minutes, 


WI1A1.KBONT.  WHALES.  1J3 

and  give  ample  opportunity  for  study.  The  following  attempt  at  a '  field  key '  is  based  mainly  on 
my  own  notes  and  may  serve  in  general  to  identify  the  large  species  of  the  North  Atlantic,  though 
unless  one  has  a  slight  acquaintance  with  the  appearance  of  living  whales,  it  may,  on  account 
of  the  relative  nature  of  some  of  the  criteria,  be  somewhat  difficult  to  apply.  It  should  be 
added  that  the  only  other  large  cetacean  of  the  North  Atlantic  not  a  whalebone  whale,  is  the 
Sperm  Whale,  a  toothed  species.  It  may  be  easily  recognized  by  its  spout,  which  is  rather  low, 
and  directed  obliquely  forward.  In  diving,  this  whale  throws  its  flukes  out  of  the  water,  and  goes 
down  almost  perpendicularly. 

Field  Key  to  Whalebone  Whales  of  New  England. 

1.  Flukes  of  the  tail  thrown  out  of  water  in  making  the  deeper  dives. 

A.  No  fin  at  the  lower  part  of  back North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  (Kubalama  glacialis.) 

B.  A  small  fin  at  the  lower  part  of  the  back. 

a.  Spout  low  and  rather  globular  in  form Humpback  Whale  (Mcgaptcra  nodosa). 

b.  Spout  high  and  columnar Blue  WThale  (Balacnoptera  mmcul'us). 

2.  Flukes  not  shown  above  water  in  diving;  a  prominent  fin  on  the  lower  part  of  the  back. 

A.  Size  large,  spout  high  and  columnar Common  Finback  (Balacnoptera  physalw). 

Pollack    Whale    (Balacnoptera    borcalis}.1 

B.  Size  small,  spout  low,  often  hardly  if  at  all  visible;  a  white  band  on  pectoral  visible  if  close  at  hand. 

Little  Piked  Whale   (Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata) . 

1 1  am  unaware  of  any  way  of  distinguishing  this  species  at  sea  from  the  Common  Finback. 


114  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Eubalaena  glacialis  (BONNATERRE). 
NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE. 

PLATES  8,  9;  PLATE  11,  FIG.  1. 
SYNONYMY. 

1776.  Balai'iia  glacialis  Miiller,  Zool.  Danicae  Prodromus,  p.  7  (nomen  nudum). 

1789.  Balaena  glacialis'BonnsitQTK,  Tabl.  Encycl.  et  Method,  des  Trois  Regnes  de  la  Nature,  Cetologie,  p.  3. 

1792.  Balaena  mysticetus  islandica  Kerr,  Animal  Kingdom,  vol.  1,  p.  357. 

1803-4.     Balaena  nordcapcr  Lacepede,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Cetaces,  vol.  1,  p.  152  (part),  pis.  2,  3. 

1860.  Balaena  biscayensis  Eschricht,  Rev.  et  Mag.  de  Zool.,  ser.  2,  vol.  12,  p.  229. 

1864.  Balaena  mysticetus  angulata  Gray,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  201,  fig.  1  (=  E.  glacialis  fide  Millais). 

1864.  Eubalaena  biscayensis  Flower,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  391. 

1865.  Balaena  cisarctica  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  p.  168. 

1867.  Hunterius  svedcnborgii  Lilljeborg,  Nova  Acta  Reg.  Soc.  Sci.  Upsala,  ser.  3,  vol.  6,  no.  6,  p.  35,  pi.  9-11. 

1868.  Balaena  (Hunterius)  biscayensis  Gray,  Ann.  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  ser.  4,  vol.  1,  p.  244. 
1868-79.     Balaena  byscayensis  van  Beneden  and  Gervais,  Osteogr.  des  Cetaces,  Atlas,  pi.  7. 

1870.  Balaena  britannica  Gray,  Ann.  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  ser.  4,  vol.  6,  p.  200  (based  on  fossil  cervicals  from 
Lyme  Regis,  England). 

1870.  Eubalaena  cisarctica  Gray,  Ann.  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  ser.  4,  vol.  6,  p.  391. 

1871.  Hunterius  biscayensis  Gray,  Supplement  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Museum,  p.  44. 

1871.     Balaena  eubalaena  Gray,  Supplement  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Museum,  p.  44  (not  Flower,  1864). 

1877.     Balaena  arentina  Capellini,  Mem.  R.  Accad.  Sci.  Bologna,  ser.  3,  vol.  8,  p.  3. 

1890.  Balaena  euskaricnsis  Rial,  La  Ballena  Euskara,  Memoria  del  esqueleto  de  esta  especie,  etc.,  San  Sebas- 
tian, p.  3. 

1890.  Balaena  bizcayensis  Rial,  La  Ballena  Euskara,  Memoria  del  esqueleto  de  esta  especie,  etc.,  San  Sebas- 
tian, p.  17. 

1900.  Eubalaena  glacialis  Kiikenthal,  Fauna  Arctica,  vol.  1,  p.  207;  J.  A.  Allen,  Bull.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist., 
1908,  vol.  24,  p.  310. 

History  and  Nomenclature. 

According  to  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen's  (1908)  excellent  review  of  the  history  of  this  whale  it  was 
first  introduced  into  systematic  zoology  by  Klein,  in  1741,  who  gave  the  varietal  name  borealis 
to  the  Nordkaper  of  Zorgdrager,  supposing  it  to  be  a  variety  of  the  Arctic  Bowhead.  Brisson, 
in  1756,  again  named  it  (Balaena  islandica),  and  gave  its  salient  points  of  distinction  from  the 
latter.  Linne  did  not  differentiate  between  the  two  species,  but  Bonnaterre,  in  his  Tableau 
Encyclopedique,  1789,  recognized  the  smaller  Right  Whale  as  Balaena  glacialis,  founding  his 
description  chiefly  on  Brisson.  The  name  glacialis  is  somewhat  inappropriate,  however,  for 
this  whale  frequents  the  northern  waters  during  only  a  portion  of  the  year.  Under  the  name 
Balaena  biscayensis,  Eschricht  (1860)  recognized  the  Right  Whale  of  the  eastern  North  Atlantic 


PLATE  8. 

North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  (Eubalaena  glacidis),  adult  male.     Drawn  by  J.  Henry  Blake,  from  measure- 
ments taken  by  him,  of  the  specimen  caught  off  Provincetown  in  1895. 


oo 


CM 

6 
2 

oo" 

J 
o 

H 

en 


s 

01 

tt 


u 
2 


NORTH  ATLANTIC   HKM1T  WHALE.  115 

as  a  distinct  species,  and  this  name  has  long  been  current.  Cope  in  1861  described  a  specimen 
from  the  Western  North  Atlantic,  taken  in  Delaware  Bay,  as  Balaena  cisarctica;  and  other 
specimens  have  been  described  as  Balaena  tarentina  and  B.  euskariensis.  But  there  is  now  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  those  of  the  opposite  sides  of  this  ocean  are  specifically  different,  as  True 
(1904)  has  well  demonstrated.  It  was  not  until  1898  that  True  revised  the  nomenclature  of 
the  whalebone  whales  of  Linnets  Systema  Naturae,  and  established  the  fact  that  Bonnaterre's 
Balm  mi  glacialis  is  the  earliest  name  that  can  be  satisfactorily  identified  as  applying  to  the 
present  species.  In  1908,  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  formally  reinstated  Gray's  genus  Eubalaena  and 
(p.  307)  defined  it  as  follows,  in  comparison  with  true  Balaena. 

"Eubalaena. —  Head  and  body  relatively  long  and  slender,  with  the  head  forming  about 
one  fourth  of  the  total  length;  skull  much  less  arched,  and  the  baleen  about  one  half  shorter 
than  in  Balaena,  and  also  much  thicker,  not  so  smooth,  and  with  a  coarser  fringe."  The  type 
species  of  the  genus  is  Balaena  australis  of  Desmoulins.  It  is  currently  supposed  that  this, 
the  Right  Whale  of  the  Southern  Ocean,  is  different  from  that  of  the  North  Atlantic,  and  that 
the  form  occurring  in  the  North  Pacific  is  again  distinct  from  either.  The  differences  between 
these  three  (or  possibly  four)  have  not  yet  been  clearly  formulated  owing  to  the  imperfect 
state  of  our  knowledge. 

Two  other  names  have  been  founded  on  fossil  remains  of  this  whale  of  comparatively 
recent  age.  Lilljeborg  (1867)  described  as  Hunterius  svedenborgii  sundry  vertebrae  and  a 
scapula  which  appear  to  be  identical  with  those  of  Eubalaena  glacialis,  though  the  scapula  is 
slightly  more  narrowed  than  usual. 

Gray,  in  1870,  described  certain  fossil  cervical  vertebrae  from  Lyme  Regis,  England,  under 
the  name  of  Balaena  britannica,  but  these  are  now  believed  to  be  identical  with  those  of  the 
North  Atlantic  Right  Whale. 

The  type  locality  of  the  Nordkaper,  as  given  by  Bonnaterre,  is  "les  mers  du  Nord,  pres  des 
cotes  de  Norvege  &  d'Islande." 

The  etymology  of  the  Latin  name  is:  eu,  well  or  typical,  and  balaena,  a  whale,  hence  the 
true  or  right  whale;  the  specific  name  glacialis  (pertaining  to  the  ice),  was  given  through  its 
having  been  supposed  to  be  an  arctic  species. 

Vernacular  Names. 

To  distinguish  it  from  the  supposedly  allied  species  of  the  North  Pacific  and  of  the  southern 
oceans,  our  species  is  termed  the  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale.  The  word  '  whale '  itself,  from 
the  Old  English  whal,  Anglo-Saxon  hwael,  is  from  the  same  root  as  our  word  'wheel'  and  ex- 
presses the  forward  rolling  movement  of  the  animal  when  swimming.  The  term  '  Right '  Whale 
arose  with  the  early  whalers,  and  served  to  distinguish  this  and  the  Bowhead  of  the  Arctic 


116  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

from  the  Finbacks  and  the  Humpback,  which  were  far  less  valuable  and  more  difficult  of 
capture  and  therefore  not  the  right  species  to  pursue.  The  baleen  or  whalebone  of  these  latter 
species  was  until  very  recently,  not  considered  fit  for  use,  so  that  the  Right  Whales  alone  were 
looked  to  for  this  commodity,  hence  the  term  'Whalebone  Whale,'  noted  by  Dudley  as  applied 
by  the  New  England  whalers  to  the  present  species.  The  name  'Seven-feet-bone'  Whale, 
mentioned  by  St.  John  de  Crevecoeur,  had  reference  to  this  maximum  length  of  the  baleen,  in 
contrast  to  the  twelve-  or  fifteen-foot  plates  of  whalebone  produced  by  the  Bowhead.  On 
account  of  its  prevailingly  black  color  it  is  also  called  Black  Whale  (in  Danish,  'Svarthval'). 
The  term  'Scrag  Whale'  is  to  this  day  applied  by  the  fishermen  of  the  New  England  coast  to 
small  examples  of  this  species.  It  signifies  a  small  or  emaciated  individual.  Dudley  applied 
the  term  to  one  of  the  Finner  Whales,  to  indicate  a  distinct  variety.  Sundry  other  names 
have  been  given  to  this  species  by  the  European  whalers.  Thus  the  Icelanders  call  it '  Sletbag ' 
(or  smooth  back)  from  the  lack  of  a  dorsal  fin;  the  Dutch  whalers,  who  pursued  them  in  summer 
off  the  North  Cape  of  Norway,  knew  it  as  the  'Nordkaper'  or  'Noortkaper.'  In  scientific 
parlance  it  has  been  called  '  Baleine  des  Basques,'  the  Biscay  or  Basque  Whale,  founded  on  the 
Balaena  biscayensis  of  Eschricht,  then  supposed  to  be  a  distinct  species.  This  whale  was  long 
pursued  by  the  Biscayne  whalers,  who  followed  it  even  to  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland,  but 
their  name  for  it  appears  to  be  'Sardaco  Baleac '  (meaning  a  whale  that  goes  in  schools)  which  is 
rendered  into  French  as  'Sarde'  or  'Sarda.'  By  the  Germans  it  is  called  Glattwal  or  Smooth 
Whale  in  allusion  to  its  lack  of  a  dorsal  fin  and  throat  folds. 


Description. 

Form. —  Body  comparatively  short,  thick  and  stout,  tapering  towards  the  tail,  to  form  a 
laterally  compressed  peduncle  —  the  'small'  of  the  whalers  —  whose  dorsal  profile  is  sometimes 
irregularly  knobbed.  The  head  is  enormous,  from  a  fifth  to  a  fourth  of  the  total  length,  the 
upper  jaw  curved  in  an  arc,  the  rostrum  narrow,  and  fitting  into  the  depression  between  the 
lower  lips.  The  bony  rami  of  the  jaws  are  broadly  bowed  outwards  on  each  side,  and  support 
the  great  fleshy  lips  which  project  upward  so  as  to  enclose  the  upper  jaw  between  them  when 
the  mouth  is  shut.  In  side  view  the  lower  jaw  is  roughly  semicircular  in  outline,  with  some 
half  dozen  large  irregular  scallops  along  its  dorsal  margin.  Near  the  end  of  the  muzzle  is  a 
broad  cushion  or  excrescence,  termed  the  'bonnet,'  of  oval  outline,  and  commonly  much  in- 
fested by  parasitic  crustaceans.  The  use  of  this  '  bonnet '  is  unknown.  By  some  it  is  believed 
to  be  due  to  the  presence  of  the  parasites  but  it  is  found  equally  in  young  whales  and  is  certainly 
of  natural  origin.  It  is  possible  that  it  serves  as  a  bumper.  Its  surface  appears  much  worn  or 
eaten  away  so  as  to  resemble  a  bit  of  furnace  slag.  A  somewhat  similar  large  roughened  ex- 
crescence is  present  anteriorly  at  each  side  of  the  lower  jaw,  and  back  of  each  are  a  few  smaller 


PLATE  9. 

North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  (Eubdaena  glacialis),  immature  female,— a  "scrag"  whale.  Drawn  by 
J.  Henry  Blake  from  measurements  made  by  the  writer,  of  the  Provincetown  1909  specimen.  Note  the  rela- 
tive shortness  of  the  head  compared  with  that  of  the  adult  male  shown  on  Plate  8. 


05 
L. 

i 


' 


= 


o 


<N 

O 

2 

oo' 

o 

H 

X 


z 

8 
w 

I 

6 
tn 


O 

s 
u 

2 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  117 

swellings  of  like  nature.  These  larger  swellings  are  sufficient  to  give  the  lower  jaw  a  nearly 
truncate  or  square  front,  though  there  is  a  slight  emargination  at  the  middle  line.  In  the 
Provincetown  whale  of  1909,  there  were  four  other  roughened  areas  along  the  ridge  of  the  upper 
jaw,  the  largest  not  far  in  advance  of  the  blowholes.  The  lower  jaw  is  slightly  the  longer. 

The  blowholes  or  external  nares  are  situated  at  the  vertex  of  the  head,  slightly  in  advance 
of  the  angle  of  the  mouth.  They  are  two  slits  one  on  each  side  of  the  middle  line,  rather  wide 
apart,  but  converging,  anteriorly.  In  the  1895  male  specimen  they  were  8  inches  long,  in  the 
1909  female  G.5  inches,  and  4.5  inches  apart  anteriorly.  Their  outline  from  above  is  gently 
convex  toward  the  midline  (text-fig.  10,  p.  274). 

The  eye  is  slightly  protuberant,  and  placed  low  down,  a  little  above  the  extreme  posterior 
corner  of  the  mouth. 

The  pectoral  fins  are  of  characteristic  outline,  and  inserted  below  the  level  of  the  corner  of 
the  mouth.  The  anterior  border  is  very  slightly  convex;  the  posterior  margin  is  the  shortest 
and  the  fin  is  broadest  at  the  level  of  this  posterior  corner,  where  it  is  obliquely  truncate. 

The  flukes  are  relatively  broad  in  their  transverse  diameter;  their  combined  spread  is 
about  four  times  the  greatest  basal  width.  There  is  a  distinct  median  notch  some  six  inches 
deep  at  the  posterior  border. 

The  ear  is  a  mere  hole  or  pit  externally,  about  large  enough  to  admit  the  end  of  a  parlor 
match.  It  is  situated  somewhat  behind  and  below  the  level  of  the  eye. 

Color. — As  the  term  'Black  Whale'  indicates,  the  skin  is  commonly  a  deep  ebony  black 
throughout.  The  gum,  bordering  the  inner  side  of  the  entire  upper  jaw,  is  white,  making  a 
contrasting  line  at  the  base  of  the  whalebone  plates,  which  also  are  black. 

Variation  from  this  coloring  is  caused  through  the  occasional  presence  of  white  patches 
of  greater  or  less  extent,  usually  on  the  ventral  surface.  In  a  specimen  taken  at  Amagansett, 
Long  Island,  there  were  "numerous  milk-white  patches  varying  in  diameter  from  two  to  four- 
teen inches"  on  the  flukes,  pectoral  limbs,  and  the  region  around  the  genitalia.  The  spots  on 
the  flukes  were  mainly  along  the  posterior  border  of  the  extremities  on  both  surfaces  as  narrow 
streaks  or  patches.  The  pectorals  were  strongly  marked  with  white  in  large  patches,  particu- 
larly on  the  inferior  surface  along  the  posterior  margin  (Andrews,  1908,  p.  172).  A  newspaper 
photograph  of  the  whale  killed  off  Cape  Cod  in  1895,  shows  it  to  have  been  'white-bellied.' 
The  throat  from  the  symphysis  back  nearly  to  the  pectorals  was  white,  and  thence  the  white 
area  tapered  posteriorly  well  on  to  the  belly,  its  outline  somewhat  irregularly  blotched,  and 
with  a  few  scattered  black  spots.  Collett  (1909)  who  has  had  opportunity  of  examining  some 
numbers  of  this  species  killed  in  the  waters  about  Iceland,  found  that  about  ten  out  of  fifty 
specimens  were  white-bellied,  and  that  in  many  the  white  area  is  somewhat  constricted  in  the 
middle,  and  in  places,  especially  towards  the  sides,  thickly  dotted  with  oblong  black  spots; 
the  pectorals  were  black  in  all  (see  plates  with  Collett's  paper). 


118 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Hair. —  Although  devoid  of  a  hairy  covering,  the  whalebone  whales  have  retained  a  certain 
number  of  hairs  in  definite  places,  that  possibly  serve  a  tactile  function.  In  the  Provincetown 
1909  whale  that  I  examined,  there  were  on  the  upper  jaw  near  the  middle  of  the  tip,  a  few  scat- 
tered grayish  hairs,  and  on  the  lower  jaw  in  the  region  of  the  symphysis  some  hundred  or  more, 
stiff,  projecting  bristles  about  one  fourth  of  an  inch  long,  and  arranged  in  fairly  definite  rows 
trending  toward  the  midline  at  a  considerable  angle  (see  diagram,  text-fig.  1).  In  addition 


TEXT-FIG.  1. —  Diagram  to  show  arrangement  of  hairs  at  the  chin  of  the  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale. 

there  were  one  or  two  longer  bristles  of  an  inch  or  so,  protruding  from  the  great  excrescences  at 
each  side  of  the  symphysis.  Andrews  (1908)  in  the  Long  Island  specimen  found  about  150 
white  hairs  "between  the  tip  of  the  snout  and  the  anterior  end  of  the  bonnet"  and  about  the 
same  number  in  the  region  of  the  mandibular  symphsis. 

Baleen. —  The  whalebone  or  baleen  plates  are  arranged  in  two  longitudinal  series,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  roof  of  the  mouth.  The  plates  number  some  250  on  a  side,  of  which  the  central  are 
the  longest.  In  the  1895  Cape  Cod  specimen,  the  longest  plate  measured  5  feet  6  inches  and  was 
7  inches  broad  at  the  base  (fide  J.  H.  Blake).  In  the  Amagansett  specimen  the  longest  plate,  ex- 
clusive of  the  bristles,  was  6  feet  5  inches  (Andrews,  1908,  p.  175).  In  tfie  specimen  in  the  Muse- 
um of  Comparative  Zoology  taken  at  Provincetown  in  1864  "some  of  the  whalebone  was  seven 
feet  in  length"  (J.  A.  Allen,  1908,  p.  322) ;  and  True  (1904)  gives  7  feet  2  inches  for  the  longest 
recorded  American  specimen.  The  color  of  both  plate  and  frayed  bristles  of  the  inner  margin 
is  black,  but  in  some  specimens  the  extreme  bases  of  the  plates  and  their  bristles  (Andrews, 
1908)  or  a  few  entire  plates  (Collett,  1909)  at  the  anterior  end  of  the  series  may  be  white. 

External  Measurements. —  As  stated  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  (1908,  p.  321)  the  largest  American 
specimen  yet  recorded  is  the  adult  female  taken  at  Amagansett,  Long  Island,  Feb.  22,  1907, 
which  measured  54  feet  from  the  tip  of  the  snout  to  the  notch  of  the  flukes.  This  is  exactly 
the  same  as  given  by  Collett  (1909)  for  the  largest  of  the  Iceland  whales  of  which  he  had  record, 
and  no  doubt  represents  nearly  the  maximum  size.  He  found  further  that  the  females  seem  to 
average  slightly  larger  than  the  males,  though  this  difference  is  not  very  marked.  Thus  of  12 
males  killed  in  1907,  the  extremes  were  43  and  48  feet,  and  of  12  females,  44  and  49  feet.  An- 
drews (1908)  has  recorded  the  measurements  of  two  specimens  from  Long  Island,  and  those  of  a 
few  other  American  specimens  are  given  by  True  (1904).  The  only  published  measurements 
of  a  New  England  specimen  are  those  given  by  the  latter  author,  supplied  him  by  Mr.  J.  H. 
Blake  from  the  1895  Cape  Cod  specimen.  These  with  some  additions  given  me  by  Mr.  Blake, 


NOUTU  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE. 


119 


as  well  as  those  taken  by  myself  from  the  1909  Cape  Cod  female  here  follow,  together  with  their 
reduction  to  percentages  of  the  total  length.  It  should  be  stated  that  Mr.  Blake's  measurement 
of  this  latter  dimension  is  from  tip  of  lower  jaw  to  notch  of  flukes,  whereas  mine  is  from  tip  of 
upper  jaw  to  the  same  point.  The  measurements  in  this  and  other  tables  are  in  English  feet 
and  inches  to  correspond  with  those  given  in  True's  monograph  (1904),  as  well  as  in  meters. 


EUBALAENA    GLACIALIS. 

Measurements  of  the  Prorincetoion  1909  female. 


Tip  of  upper  jaw  to  notch  of  tail  in  straight  line 

"     "       «        "     "  bonnet 

"     "       "        "     "  last  plate  of  baleen 

"     "       "        "     "  corner  of  mouth 

"     "       "        "     "  eye 
Greatest  width  of  'bonnet'  anteriorly 
Greatest  vertical  thickness  of  lower  lip 
Transverse  width  of  lower  jaw  anteriorly 

"  upper  jaw 

Axial  length  of  left  blowhole 
Distance  between  anterior  tips  of  blowholes 
Ix-ngtli  of  eye  opening 
( 'orner  of  month  to  anterior  insertion  of  pectoral 

"  posterior  insertion 

Anterior  border  of  pectoral  from  insertion  to  tip 
Greatest  width  of  pectoral  (from  i>osterior  corner) 

"       "         "       at  insertion 
Posterior  border  of  pectoral 
Vertical  thickness  of  pectoral  at  insertion 
Length  of  mammary  slit 
Distance  apart  of  mammary  slits  anteriorly 

"    posteriorly 
Vaginal  opening  to  anus 
Anus  to  notch  between  flukes 
From  tip  to  tip  of  flukes 
Caudal  notch  to  anterior  insertion  of  fluke 
Posterior  border  of  right  fluke 

"        "  left        " 

Anterior  border,  left  fluke,  from  insertion  to  tip 
Depth    of  caudal  notch 
Breadth  "       "          "     posteriorly 
Vertical  height  of  peduncle  at  insertion  of  flukes 
Half  girth  of  head,  from  between  blowholes,  over  eye 
\  entral  distance  between  anterior  insertions  of  pectorals 
Thickness  of  blubber  a  yard  in  front  of  anus 
"         "        near  middle  of  body 


Ft.       In. 
34       9 

Meters 
10.59 

Percentage  of 
total  length 
100 

1        1 

0.33 

3.1 

7       8 

2.34 

22.0 

8       2 

2.49 

23.5 

7      10 

2.39 

22.5 

1        1 

0.33 

3.1 

3       3 

0.98 

9.2 

2       8 

0.81 

7.6 

1      10 

0.56 

5.2 

6.5 

0.16 

1.5 

4.5 

0.11 

1.0 

3 

0.08 

0.6 

2     10 

0.86 

8.1 

1       9 

0.53 

5.0 

5       4.5 

1.64 

15.4 

3       5 

1.04 

9.8 

2       2 

0.66 

6.2 

2       3 

0.68 

6.4 

1        3 

0.38 

3.5 

7 

0.18 

1.7 

1        1 

0.33 

3.1 

9 

0.22 

2.0 

1       3 

0.38 

3.6 

11      10 

3.61 

34.0 

11      77 

3.53 

33.3 

3       0 

0.91 

8.6 

6       0 

1.83 

17.2 

6       0 

1.83 

17.2 

6       8 

2.04 

19.2 

6 

0.15 

1.4 

8 

0.20 

1.9 

1       8 

0.51 

4.8 

10       0 

:;.().-, 

28.8 

(i       8 

2.04 

19.2 

9 

0.23 

2.1 

(i 

0.15 

1.9 

120 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Measurements  of  the  Cape  Cod  1895  male  (from  J.  H.  Blake). 


Tip  of  lower  jaw  to  notch  of  tail 

"     "  upper  jaw  to  corner  of  mouth 

"     "       "        "    to  blowholes 
Greatest  vertical  thickness  of  lower  lip 
Axial  length  of  blowholes 
Distance  between  posterior  tips  of  blowholes 
Tip  of  lower  jaw  to  anterior  insertion   of  pectoral 
Posterior  corner  of  eye  to  anterior  insertion  of  pectoral 
Anterior  border  of  pectoral  from  insertion  to  tip 
Greatest  width  of  pectoral  (from  posterior  corner) 
Anterior  insertion  of  pectoral  to  penis 
Anus  to  notch  of  tail 

Caudal  notch  to  anterior  insertion  of  fluke 
Posterior  border  of  left  fluke  (straight  line) 
Ventral  distance  between  anterior  insertions  of  pectorals 
Longest  baleen 

These  measurements  and  proportions  show  a  rough  general  agreement  but  indicate  the 
somewhat  more  slender  build  and  relatively  shorter  head  of  the  smaller  (female)  specimen. 
Andrews  (1909a,  p.  274)  has  given  the  measurements  of  a  young  female  27  feet  9|  inches  in 
total  length,  taken  off  Amagansett,  Long  Island,  on  December  10,  1908.  He  points  out  that 
the  pectorals  and  the  flukes  are  much  larger  in  proportion  than  in  adult  specimens.  It  is 
interesting  also  that  in  this  young  whale,  perhaps  not  more  than  a  year  old,  the  'bonnet'  was 
well  developed,  and  infested  with  Cyami,  as  were  also  the  roughened  areas  on  the  jaws. 


Ft.       In. 

Meters 

Percentage  of 
total  length 

42       5 

12.93 

100 

13       0 

3.96 

30.6 

9       2 

2.79 

21.5 

8      ± 

2.44 

18.8 

8 

0.20 

1.5 

7 

0.18 

1.4 

17       0 

5.18 

4.0 

3       4 

1.02 

7.8 

6       0 

1.83 

14.9 

2       9 

0.84 

6.5 

12       0 

3.66 

28.3 

12       0 

3.66 

28.3 

3       4 

1.02 

7.8 

6       9 

2.06 

15.9 

7       0 

2.13 

16.4 

5       6 

1.68 

12.9 

Skeleton. 

• 

Skull. —  Apparently  the  only  New  England  skeleton  of  this  species  preserved  in  any 
museum  is  that  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  at  Cambridge,  taken  off  Provincetown 
in  April,  1864.  This  is  now  mounted  and  hangs  from  the  ceiling  of  the  main  hall.  It  was 
studied  and  measured  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  soon  after  its  reception,  and  his  account  of  it  with 
illustrations  has  lately  been  published  (J.  A.  Allen,  1908).  He  gives  the  following  cranial 
measurements,  which  I  have  reduced  to  percentages  of  the  total  length  of  the  skull. 

Skull  Measurements. 

Axial  length,  occipital  condyles  to  tip  of  intermaxillaries 

Occipito-frontal  suture    to  posterior  border  of  occipital  condyle 

Fronto-nasal  suture          «         "  "       " 

Anterior  border  of  nasals  " 

Length  of  nasals  along  outer  border 


mm. 

Percentage 

3650 

100 

740 

20.3 

880 

24.1 

1160 

31.7 

350 

9.5 

NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE. 


121 


mm. 
250 

Percentage 
6.8 

330 

9.0 

330 

9.0 

2780 

76.1 

3150 

86.3 

2810 

77.0 

32GO 

89.3 

2500 

68.4 

2325 

63.7 

1590 

43.5 

1090 

29.8 

240 

6.5 

285 

7.8 

3270 

89.6 

4000 

109.5 

430 

11.7 

360 

9.8 

370 

10  1 

length  of  nasals  along  inner  border 
Breadth  of  nasals  anteriorly 
"         "       "      posteriorly 
Length  of  maxillary,  axial 

on  curve  of  superior  external  border 
"         "  intermaxillary 

along  dorsal  convexity 

Breadth  of  skull  at  orbital  processes  of  frontal 
Breadth  of  skull  at  Zygomatic  processes 

"        "      "      "    mastoid  processes 
(Ireatcst  breadth  of  occipital  bone 
Transverse          breadth  of  occipital  condyles 
Antero-posterior       "         " 
Length  of  mandible,  axial 

along  external  curvature 
Greatest  depth 

Transverse  diameter  of  condyle 
\'ertieal  "          "        " 


The  skull  of  Eubalaena  is  very  characteristic  in  appearance  and  highly  specialized  for  the 
support  of  the  long  and  narrow  plates  of  baleen  through  the  narrowness  of  its  rostral  portion, 
especially  of  the  maxillary  bones  from  which  these  blades  depend.  In  addition  to  the  great 
Literal  reduction  of  these  bones,  the  entire  rostrum  is  strongly  arched  in  side  view  to  accommo- 
date the  long  baleen  plates.  This  portion  of  the  skull,  as  seen  from  the  above  table  is  more 
than  two  thirds  of  the  total  length.  The  intermaxillaries  project  somewhat  beyond  the  tips  of 
the  more  lateral  maxillary  bones,  and  the  nasals  are  enclosed  between  their  proximal  ends  at 
the  base  of  the  rostrum.  The  nasals  are  each  deeply  notched  at  their  free  end  and  form  the 
posterior  boundary  of  the  nasal  opening.  A  narrow  tongue  of  the  maxillary  and  the  frontal 
me  are  produced  postero-laterally  and  meet  a  lateral  extension  of  the  squamosal  bone  to  form 
the  eye  socket,  which  is  further  defined  by  the  short  thick  jugal  forming  the  ventral  half  of  the 
orbit.  The  occipital  portion  of  the  skull  is  broad  and  rounded  in  outline.  Viewed  from  above 
I  he  lower  jaws  bow  widely  out  on  either  side  to  support  the  thick  and  massive  lower  lips.  They 
extend  slightly  beyond  the  upper  jaw.  The  condyles  are  large  and  round,  but  the  coronoid 
process,  though  present  in  the  Balaenopterae,  is  lacking,  a  further  mark  of  specialization.  A 
canal  is  present  on  the  internal  side  at  the  base,  for  the  mandibular  branch  of  the  facial 
nerve. 

The  Provincetown  specimen  of  1864  had  56  vertebrae,  namely,  cervicals  7,  dorsals  14, 
lumbars  11,  caudals  24.  Andrews  (1908,  p.  176)  found  the  same  formula  in  two  Long  Island 
specimens,  ex«ept  that  one  had  only  23  caudals.  True  (1904)  records  a  Long  Island  speci- 
men in  which  the  formula  was  C.  7,  D.  14,  L.  10,  Ca.  26  =  57,  but  the  other  formula  is  the  more 
isual. 


122  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

The  cervical  vertebrae  are,  in  the  adult,  more  or  less  completely  united  into  a  solid  mass. 
The  centra  are  usually  well  ankylosed,  while  the  neural  spines  and  the  transverse  processes  are 
variously  united.  Thus  in  the  Provincetown  1864  specimen,  as  described  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen, 
the  spinous  processes  of  the  first  to  fifth  cervicals  have  entirely  fused,  but  the  tips  of  the  two 
remaining  are  free.  Of  the  transverse  processes,  those  of  the  atlas  are  both  free,  and  of  the 
remaining  six,  that  of  the  second  is  free  on  the  left  side,  but  on  the  right  side  is  fused  with  the 
transverse  process  of  the  third,  and  all  the  rest  on  this  side  are  fused  together  at  their  outer  ends. 
On  the  left-hand  side,  the  third  and  fourth  are  fused,  at  their  tips,  and  the  fifth,  sixth,  and 
seventh  in  a  second  group.  This  specimen  is  remarkable  for  the  relatively  slight  degree  of 
fusion  between  the  atlas  and  axis. 

Sundry  measurements  of  vertebrae  are  given  by  Andrews  (1908)  and  J.  A.  Allen  (1908) 
for  American  specimens.  The  neural  spines  increase  in  height  at  the  shoulder  region  and 
maintain  their  length  well  on  to  the  lumbar  vertebrae,  whence  they  decline  rapidly,  at  the  same 
time  becoming  strongly  slanted  backward.  In  the  Provincetown  1864  whale  the  41st  is  the  last 
vertebra  to  have  this  process  and  the  anterior  articular  processes  well  developed,  and  the  45th 
is  the  last  to  have  a  neural  canal.  The  transverse  processes  of  the  lumbars  and  caudals  differ 
greatly  from  those  of  the  Fin  Whales.  In  these  the  processes  are  broad,  thin,  and  flattened, 
arising  from  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  centrum,  regularly  expanding  distally,  and  finally  ter- 
minating in  an  almost  knifelike  edge.  In  Eubalaena  on  the  contrary,  they  arise  from  a  much 
smaller  portion  of  the  centrum,  are  oval  or  elliptical  in  section,  and  at  the  end  expand  slightly, 
while  instead  of  coming  to  a  thin  edge,  they  terminate  with  a  truncate  elliptical  face.  These 
processes  are  rather  long  at  first  but  on  the  anterior  caudal  vertebrae  shorten  rapidly  and 
become  a  mere  ridge  on  the  40th  vertebra  and  practically  disappear  with  the  41st  or  42d.  The 
vertical  perforation  of  the  transverse  process  first  appears  on  the  38th  (or  39th)  vertebra  and 
disappears  with  the  45th,  the  last  also  to  have  a  neural  canal.  The  centra  of  the  38th  to  41st 
vertebrae  or  thereabouts  are  markedly  larger  than  those  preceding  them,  giving  greater  bulk 
to  the  tail,  while  the  45th  is  much  smaller,  and  those  succeeding  dwindle  quickly  in  size,  becom- 
ing mere  rounded  ossicles. 

Some  discrepancy  appears  in  the  recorded  numbers  of  the  chevron  bones.  There 
are  only  nine  in  the  Provincetown  1864  skeleton  as  mounted,  but  probably  the  series  is 
incomplete,  as  the  posteriormost  are  small  and  easily  lost.  Andrews  (1908)  who  carefully 
dissected  these  bones  from  two  Long  Island  specimens  found  twelve  in  one,  and  but  nine  in 
the  other  and  younger  animal.  The  fifth  was  found  to  be  the  largest,  11.5  inches  long  with  a 
keel  8  inches  long. 

The  number  of  ribs  is  fourteen  on  each  side.  The  first  pair  is  sometimes  double- 
headed,  in  which  case  the  extra  head  articulates  with  the  last  cervical  and  is  really  a  cervical 
rib  that  has  become  fused  with  the  first  true  rib.  It  was  on  this  individual  peculiarity  that  Gray 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WIIALK.  123 

founded  his  genus  Hunterius.  Holder  (1883)  records  that  in  the  skeleton  in  the  Charleston  (S.  C.) 
Museum,  the  first  rib  (which  was  single-headed)  had  "but  one  articulating  surface,  which  joins 
to  the  transverse  process  of  the  first  thoracic  vertebra.'  The  next  eight  ribs  are  joined  to  the 
vertebrae  by  two  articulating  surfaces,  one  junction  being  to  the  transverse  processes,  and  the 
other  to  the  bodies  of  the  vertebrae.  The  remaining  five,  floating  ribs,  have  one  attachment, 
which  is  to  the  [transverse  processes]  of  the  vertebrae."  The  last  rib  is  usually  much  shorter 
than  those  before  it.  The  attachment  of  the  anterior  ribs  to  the  sternum  is  very  slight,  allowing 
thus  considerable  freedom  of  movement  so  as  to  enable  the  animal  to  expand  and  fill  its  lungs 
to  the  utmost  capacity  when  breathing,  preliminary  to  making  a  dive. 

The  sternum  is  usually  more  or  less  heart-shaped.  That  of  the  Provincetown  1864  specimen 
:it  ( 'ambridgeis  decidedly  so,  and  is  figured  by  True  (1904,  Plate  46,  fig.  4)  from  a  photograph. 
The  figure  of  the  same  specimen  published  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  (1908,  Plate  23,  fig.  A)  is  from  a 
drawing  and  shows  it  of  a  roughly  oval  outline,  but  this  must  be  in  reality  some  other  bone. 
True  (1904,  p.  258)  figures  diagrammatically  the  sternum  of  a  Right  Whale  killed  off  Long 
Island,  N.  Y.,  that  is  roughly  cruciform,  and  which,  as  he  states,  so  much  resembles  that  of 
the  Finback  Whale  that  "one  might  almost  believe  that  it  did  not  belong  to  the  skeleton  to 
which  it  is  attached-"  The  sternum  in  these  whales  is  a  bone  that  has  become  of  less  impor- 
tance consequent  to  the  adaptations  to  an  aquatic  life,  and  hence  is  subject  to  more  or  less 
imperfect  development  leading  to  its  reduction  in  size.  The  deep  median  notch  is  significant 
of  its  origin  from  two  lateral  portions  that  in  most  land  mammals  fuse  very  early  in  life. 

The  outline  of  the  scapula  (text-fig.  5,  p.  191)  is  highly  characteristic.  The  vertebral  border 
is  evenly  and  roundly  convex.  The  anterior  border  is  very  nearly  straight  or  faintly  concave 
almost  to  the  antero-dorsal  corner  where  it  becomes  slightly  convex.  The  posterior  border  is 
straight  for  about  one  fourth  its  length  and  then  becomes  evenly  concave  from  that  point  to 
the  glenoid  cavity.  The  ridge  of  the  scapular  spine  is  low  and  begins  nearly  half-way  to  the 
glenoid  border,  near  the  anterior  edge  of  the  shoulder  blade.  The  acromion  process  is  large 
and  produced  forward  as  a  broad  tongue.  The  infraspinous  portion  of  the  scapula  therefore 
includes  nearly  its  entire  lateral  aspect.  In  two  specimens  from  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  Andrews 
(1908)  found  the  right  scapula  the  larger  in  each.  There  are  no  clavicles  in  the  Cetacea. 

The  humerus  is  short  and  thick  with  a  very  large  rounded  head.  Distally  it  has  two 
articulating  surfaces  that  slant  in  toward  the  main  axis  so  as  to  meet  at  an  angle.  The  anterior 
articulates  with  the  radius,  the  posterior  with  the  ulna,  forming  thus  an  elbow  joint  that  is 
without  power  of  flexion.  The  ulna  and  radius  are  of  somewhat  similar  shape,  much  flattened, 
short  and  thick,  expanded  distally.  The  ulna  resembles  that  of  the  Humpback  and  differs 
from  that  of  Balaenoptera  in  lacking  the  basal  expansion  at  the  outer  side,  which  in  the  latter 
genus  overlaps  the  end  of  the  humerus. 

The  carpus  of  this  whale  is  still  imperfectly  known.     There  is  apparently  some  variation 


124  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WIIALEKONE  WHALES. 

in  the  number  of  ossicles  that  may  be  present,  imbedded  in  the  mass  of  cartilage  between  the 
arm  bones  and  the  metacarpals.  Holder  (1883,  Plate  12)  in  his  figure  of  a  Long  Island  skeleton 
shows  no  less  than  eight  carpals  in  addition  to  a  pisiform  bone,  the  latter  a  prominent  cylindrical 
knob  at  the  ulnar  margin.  There  is  no  probability  that  their  relative  positions  are  correctly 
delineated  in  this  figure.  Manigault  was  unable  to  discover  any  in  the  Charleston,  S.  C., 
whale,  though  it  is  probable  that  they  were  lost  or  destroyed  in  maceration.  Andrews  (1908) 
in  the  two  Long  Island  whales,  found  five  distinct  rounded  ossifications  in  the  right  carpus  and 
four  in  the  left  in  one  specimen;  four  in  the  right  and  three  in  the  left  in  the  other.  The  homol- 
ogy  of  these  bones  is  yet  to  be  thoroughly  worked  out.  There  appear  to  be  three  bones  in  the 
proximal  row  corresponding  to  the  radiale,  intermedium,  and  ulnare,  but  those  of  the  distal 
row  are  not  so  readily  homologized.  No  doubt  in  young  or  immature  specimens  these  ossifica- 
tion centers  are  so  poorly  developed  as  to  be  hardly  discernible  in  many  instances. 

The  number  of  metacarpals  and  phalanges  in  the  several  fingers  is  best  determinable  by 
careful  dissection  of  the  pectoral  limb  itself,  rather  than  from  mounted  specimens.  This  method 
was  used  by  Andrews  (1908)  who  found  in  a  Long  Island  specimen,  the  following  (Roman 
numerals  signify  the  several  digits,  Arabic  numerals  the  number  of  phalangeal  pieces) :  I  1,  II  4, 
III  5,  IV  4,  V  3.  While  this  formula  is  undoubtedly  correct,  the  mounted  specimens  in  Ameri- 
can museums  as  cited  by  True  (1904,  p.  261)  show  a  possible  variation,  which  if  actually  pres- 
ent, indicates  an  extra  phalanx  at  times  in  case  of  digits  I,  and  V  or  one  less  in  case  of  digit  IV. 

A  peculiar  interest  attaches  to  the  vestiges  of  the  pelvic  girdle  and  hind  limbs.  These  are 
found  imbedded  deep  in  the  flesh  nearly  dorsal  to  the  anus.  Two  small  and  somewhat  cres- 
centic  bones  with  their  concavity  inward,  and  placed  parallel  with  each  other  on  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  body,  are  the  remains  of  the  pelvic  girdle.  In  the  Provincetown  1864  specimen 
the  length  of  one  of  these  bones  is  220  mm.,  its  greatest  width  where  it  expands  near  the  posterior 
end,  70  mm.  The  anterior  two  thirds  is  expanded,  the  posterior  third  cylindrical.  In  a  Long 
Island  specimen  the  right  pelvic  bone  was  450  mm.  long,  the  left  435.  "Each  had  attached  to 
it  a  vestigial  femur, —  a  flattened  bone,  135  mm.  long,  58  mm.  wide,  and  10  to  28  mm.  thick, 
parallel-sided  for  about  half  the  length,  with  one  entire  side  straight,  the  other  sloping  at  an 
obtuse  angle"  (Allen,  1908,  p.  329).  These  bones  are  figured  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen.  That  these 
vestiges  of  the  pelvis  still  remain  is  probably  because  of  their  being  of  use  for  the  attachment 
of  certain  small  muscles,  as  the  crus  penis  in  the  male.  Abel  (1908)  in  his  monograph  on  the 
pelvic  bones  of  Cetacea  gives  two  excellent  figures  of  these  elements  in  place,  from  an  Icelandic 
specimen.  One  is  more  nearly  an  isosceles  triangle  than  the  other,  but  in  both  the  apex  of  the 
triangular  bone  is  to  the  exterior.  The  anterior  portion  corresponds  to  the  ilium,  the  posterior 
to  the  ischium.  Just  behind  this  apex  is  a  shallow  acetabular  cavity,  into  which  fits  the  head 
of  the  vestigial  femur,  which  is  a  short  cylindrical  bone,  with  the  head  slightly  constricted  off 
and  with  a  distinct  postero-lateral  ridge,  representing  the  great  trochanter.  Attached  to 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  125 

the  distal  end  of -the  femur  is  a  ligamentous  rod,  which  probably  represents  the  tibia.     In  the 
(Ireenland  Whale  or  Bowhead  this  tibia  is  slightly  bony. 

Sir  William  Turner  (1913)  has  very  recently  described  for  the  first  time  an  os  penis,  hitherto 
unknown  among  baleen  whales.  In  an  adult  specimen  it  was  12.75  inches  long,  and  some- 
what cylindrical. 

Appearance  and  Actions. 

It  has  not  been  my  good  fortune  to  observe  this  species  in  life.  Collett  (1909)  and  others 
agree  that  "it  is  fond  of  lying  quietly  on  the  surface  of  the  water"  and  at  such  times  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  it  sleeps.  I  have  elsewhere  mentioned  (p.  146)  an  adventure  with  such  a  sleeping 
whale  in  Cape  Cod  Bay  which  ended  disastrously  to  one  of  the  Mayflower's  crew  in  1020. 
When  at  the  surface  it  swims  slowly,  with  its  blowholes  above  water.  "As  a  rule,"  says  Collett, 
'•it  blows  five  or  six  times  in  succession,  and  then  remains  under  water  for  from  ten  to  twenty 
minutes,"  going  down  with  a  nearly  perpendicular  dive,  in  which  the  flukes  come  quite  up 
out  of  the  water.  Millais  (1906)  says  on  the  authority  of  a  whaleman,  that  it  blows  from  ten 
to  twelve  times,  and  is  then  gone  for  ten  minutes.  It  will  sometimes  rise  partly  from  the  water, 
but  apparently  has  not  been  seen  to  leap  clear.  When  rising  to  the  surface  to  blow,  the  head 
comes  much  farther  out  than  in  the  Balaenopterae,  and  as  it  swims  in  calm  water,  the  top  of  the 
head  and  the  back  are  visible,  but  owing  to  the  arching  of  the  head,  there  is  a  depression  at 
the  neck,  so  that  water  appears  between  these  two  portions,  whereas  in  the  Balaenopterae 
the  convexity  of  head  and  back  are  practically  continuous  (Buchet,  1895).  The  absence  of 
a  dorsal  fin  and  the  appearance  of  the  flukes  in  diving  are  further  field  marks.  When  not 
alarmed  its  rate  of  speed  is  said  to  be  about  four  miles  an  hour,  a  leisurely  pace. 

Spout. 

The  spout  of  this  species  is  said  to  be  about  fifteen  feet  high,  and  to  form  a  comparatively 
thicker  column  than  that  of  the  Common  Finback.  In  nearer  view  it  is  seen  "to  be  distinctly 
formed  of  two  jets  falling  to  different  sides  "  (Collett,  1909,  p.  96).  The  blowholes  are  situ- 
ated rather  farther  apart  and  are  more  divergent  than  in  the  Rorquals  so  that  the  double  source 
of  the  spout  is  more  apparent.  Buchet  (1895)  who  seems  to  have  had  some  first-hand  knowl- 
edge of  this  species  in  the  Iceland  seas,  says  that  the  spout  is  thin  and  difficult  to  detect. 

Schools. 

Right  Whales  do  not  travel  in  large  schools.  Usually  not  more  than  two  or  three  are 
found  together,  and  these  appear  to  be  often  a  pair,  or  a  pair  with  a  calf.  Where  food  is  abun- 
dant, a  considerable  number  may  gather;  and  though  sometimes  spoken  of  as  schools,  such 
gatherings  must  be  incidental  rather  than  the  result  of  purposeful  association.  In  the 


126  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

northern  seas,  Collett  mentions  that  among  the  Hebrides  the  whales  were  attracted  to  certain 
favorable  spots,  sometimes  to  the  number  of  at  least  one  hundred,  or  even  more  and  that  they 
stayed  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  then  disappeared.  On  our  New  England  coasts  and  off  the 
southern  shores  of  Long  Island,  where  they  are  merely  in  transit,  there  are  rarely  more  than 
a  few  together.  Thus  off  Wainscott,  Long  Island,  about  the  middle  of  May,  1826,  two  Right 
Whales,  one  a  very  large  individual,  were  pursued  by  the  local  whalemen,  and  shortly  a  third, 
said  to  be  a  40-barrel  calf  appeared  and  was  captured.  Apparently  these  three  were  in  com- 
pany. At  the  same  time  a  fourth  was  killed  off  Westhampton,  L.  I.,  so  that  perhaps  all  four 
may  have  constituted  a  small  party  moving  north  together  (see  Sagharbour  Corrector,  May, 
1826).  Five  Right  Whales  were  killed  off  Long  Island,  between  South  Hampton  and  East 
Hampton  one  day  about  the  middle  of  April,  1847,  indicating  the  presence  of  a  school  of  several, 
at  least  five  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  27,  no.  47,  April  21,  1847). 

Two  were  seen  together  in  late  November,  1864,  off  Nantucket,  perhaps  a  pair,  though 
there  is  nothing  to  indicate  this  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  45,  no.  1,  Nov.  30,  1864).  In  April 
of  1886,  a  "small  school"  is  said  to  have  appeared  off  Tuckernuck  Island,  Mass.,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days,  three  were  killed,  but  how  scattered  this  company  was,  is  not  indicated. 

Van  Beneden  (1885)  mentions  a  note  sent  him  by  J.  B.  Holder  telling  of  the  capture  of 
four  from  a  school  of  six,  one  a  young  one,  on  the  American  coast. 

Disposition. 

The  whalers  at  the  Hebrides  in  late  years  have  killed  a  number  of  these  whales,  and  ac- 
cording to  Collett  (1909)  they  find  them  not  timid,  but  on  the  whole  easy  to  approach.  Here 
the  bomb-harpoon  is  used,  after  the  Norwegian  method.  If  a  vital  spot  is  struck  the  whale 
soon  dies;  but  if  only  wounded,  "  it  becomes  very  violent  in  its  movements,  to  the  no  small 
danger  of  the  boats,  although  it  does  not  attack  them;  it  plunges  round  in  the  water  like  a 
ball  and  often  gets  the  line  wound  several  times  round  its  body.  Notwithstanding  the  thick 
build  of  its  body,  it  is  able  to  bend  it  until  the  head  nearly  meets  the  flukes"  (Collett,  1909, 
p.  96). 

Although  the  Right  Whale  seems  to  be  in  general  a  most  peaceful  and  inoffensive  animal, 
instances  are  not  wanting,  to  show  that  it  is  capable  of  inflicting  damage  upon  its  pursuers 
by  rising  beneath  their  boat,  smashing  it,  and  throwing  its  crew  into  the  water.  Whether 
such  mishaps  are  accidental  or  whether  the  whale  intentionally  makes  the  effort  to  rid  itself 
of  the  pursuing  boat  is  problematical.  The  Sperm  Whale  is  unquestionably  the  aggressor  at 
times,  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  Right  Whale  may  also  on  occasion  turn  against  its 
tormentors.  A  few  such  cases  are  here  recorded. 

In  Swift's  History  of  Old  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  (1884,  p.  136)  is  the  brief  record  that  in  the 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  127 

f 

year  171C>,  "Mr.  Jonathan  Howes  was  killed  by  a  whale  which  he  attacked  in  a  boat."  This 
whale  \vas  probably  Eubalaena  as  that  was  the  species  commonly  sought  by  the  shore  whalers 
in  those  days. 

Douglass,  writing  in  1755,  clearly  indicates  the  difference  between  the  Arctic  Bowhead 
Whale,  and  the  southern  Right  Whale  in  size  and  yield  of  oil  or  bone.  He  adds,  that  the 
latter  species  "are  wilder,  more  agile  and  do  fight." 

Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  has  most  kindly  written  out  for  me  an  account  of  the  capture  of  a 
Right  Whale  off  Plymouth  in  April,  1864.  It  had  been  seen  by  people  at  Provincetown,  and 
('apt.  Robert  E.  Smith  had  set  out  in  pursuit.  At  length  its  spout  was  descried,  and  the 
whale  itself  made  out  lying  quietly  at  the  surface.  Two  boats  hastened  toward  it,  and  Stephen 
T.  Xickei-son,  captain  of  the  foremost  boat  put  in  the  first  harpoon.  The  whale  commenced 
rolling  in  the  water,  and  shortly  received  a  second  harpoon  from  the  other  boat.  It  then  settled 
out  of  sight  but  shortly  came  to  the  surface  striking  the  bottom  of  the  second  boat  with  its 
'bonnet'  (or  forward  end  of  the  upper  jaw),  directly  under  the  feet  of  a  boy  who  was  pulling 
the  leading  oar.  So  great  was  the  impact  that  a  hole  was  broken  in  the  bottom  at  this  point, 
the  boat  tipped  on  end,  and  its  crew  thrown  into  the  water.  They  managed  to  cling  to  their 
overturned  craft  till  picked  up  by  their  vessel,  while  the  second  boat  shortly  lanced  and  killed 
the  whale.  That  the  bottom  of  the  boat  should  have  been  broken  by  the  impact  with  the  tip 
of  the  whale's  head  may  be  evidence  that  the  animal  had  risen  in  a  rather  more  vertical  posi- 
tion than  when  merely  spouting,  and  with  more  than  usual  force.  The  incident  shows  that 
the  whale  manifested  some  purpose  and  determination  in  its  action  and  points  to  the  possible 
u -e  of  the  'bonnet'  as  a  sort  of  bumper  for  offensive  purposes,  akin  to  the  horn  of  the 
rhinoceros. 

The  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  May  10,  1854  (vol.  34,  no.  55)  mentions  a  '30-barrel'  Right 
Whale,  that  was  struck  off  Southampton,  L.  I.,  on  April  29th,  of  that  year,  and  though 
mortally  wounded,  showed  much  fighting  power.  It  eventually  turned  upon  its  pursuers, 
stove  in  their  boat,  and  threw  them  all  into  the  sea,  severely  injuring  Capt.  Albert  Rogers, 
and  several  others  of  his  crew.  Other  boats  engaged  in  the  chase,  speedily  came  to  their 
rescue  and  picked  them  up.  The  whale  meanwhile  made  off,  spouting  blood. 

Major  Edgar  A.  Mearns  sends  me. a  note  from  an  interleaved  almanac,  dated  at  East 
( Ireenwich,  R.  I.,  November  17,  1759,  which  doubtless  refers  to  a  fatal  encounter  with  a  Right 
Whale.  The  account  reads:  "This  day  sailed  poor  Ebenezer  Simons,  of  Swansey,  and  off 
Man  Tongue  [Montauk]  Point,  end  Long  Island,  was,  about  3  P.  M.,  struck  by  a  whale, 
which  stove  their  vessel,  so  that  she  sank  immediately.  Out  of  seven  men  two  were  saved. 
Master  and  mates  and  3  men  lost"  (Newport  Hist.  Mag.,  1880,  vol.  1,  p.  123). 

The  endurance  of  the  Right  Whale,  while  not  equal  to  that  of  the  swifter-moving  Ror- 
quals, is  yet  considerable.  Thus  a  '60-barrel'  Right  Whale  that  was  struck  off  Nantucket 


128  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

in  April,  1886,  at  7.30  in  the  morning,  headed  out  to  sea,  towing  the  boat  with  six  men,  for 
seven  hours;  during  this  time  the  men  were  only  once  able  to  haul  up  near  enough  to  dart  in 
a  lance,  but  even  then  the  whale  kept  'milling'  about  in  so  lively  a  manner  that  they  were 
unable  to  reach  a  vital  spot.  Finally  they  were  obliged  to  cut  the  line  as  a  dense  fog  had 
settled,  and  they  were  far  from  land.  Five  hours'  hard  pulling  brought  them  back  to  Mus- 
keget  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  8,  no.  30,  April  22,  1886). 

Food. 

The  food  of  the  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  consists  in  large  part  at  least,  of  the  small 
crustaceans,  Thysanoessa  inermis,  a  schizopod,  and  Calanus  finmarchicus,  a  smaller  copepod, 
which  often  are  found  in  immense  numbers  on  and  near  the  surface,  so  that  at  times  they  even 
tinge  the  water  with  red.  Paul  Dudley,  in  his  interesting  essay  on  the  New  England  whales, 
wrote  that  the  young  Right  Whales  are  suckled  for  the  first  year,  but  that  they  then,  "as  is 
generally  supposed,  live  upon  some  ouzy  Matter,  which  they  suck  up  from  the  Bottom  of  the 
Sea, ....  and  yet  an  experienced  Whaleman  tells  me,  that  he  has  seen  this  Whale  in  still  Weather, 
skimming  on  the  Surface  of  the  Water,  to  take  in  a  Sort  of  reddish  Spawn,  or  Brett,  as  some 
call  it,  that  at  some  Times  will  lie  upon  the  top  of  the  Water,  for  a  Mile  together."  This 
"reddish  Spawn"  is  none  other  than  the  masses  of  these  small  crustaceans,  commonly  known 
even  now  as  'brit,'  or  by  the  Norwegians  as  'krill.'  The  Calanus  is  minute,  only  four  milli- 
meters long,  but  Thysanoessa  inermis  is  longer,  about  16  mm.  or  five  eighths  of  an  inch.  In 
still  weather,  as  observed  by  Dudley's  informant,  they  may  gather  at  the  surface  of  the  sea 
in  enormous  multitudes,  but  if  the  surface  is  rough  they  seek  the  depths.  Collett  (1909)  who 
has  recently  had  a  very  favorable  opportunity  to  study  the  Right  Whale  at  the  Iceland  whaling 
stations  and  in  the  Hebrides,  says  that  their  food  is  exclusively  these  pelagic  crustaceans, 
which  they  take  in  as  they  pass  back  and  forth  in  the  plankton  currents.  Buchet  (1895)  from 
observations  at  the  same  locality,  corroborates  this  statement,  though  it  is  still  uncertain  which 
of  the  two  species  forms  the  bulk  of  the  food.  The  copepod  is  undoubtedly  the  more  abundant, 
and  is  more  widely  distributed;  the  schizopod  is  larger  and  seems  to  be  an  animal  of  more 
northern  waters.  No  doubt  the  movements  of  the  whales  are  largely  regulated  by  the  pres- 
ence of  these  crustaceans  on  which  they  feed.  Both  species  are  abundant  in  the  northern 
seas  during  summer,  but  there  seems  to  be  little  record  of  their  appearance  in  the  winter 
months.  In  Vineyard  Sound  Thysanoessa  inermis  is  known  to  have  been  "in  two  successive 
years  recorded  as  abundant  in  January."  Bigelow  (1914)  did  not  find  it  in  July  and  August 
in  the  Gulf  of  Maine,  which  may  indicate  that  it  is  present  in  our  waters  during  the  colder 
part  of  the  year  only. 

i  Sumner,  Osburn  and  Cole.     Bull.  U.  S.  Bur.  Fish.,  1913,  vol.  31,  p.  663. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC    RIGHT  WHALE.  129 

There  seems  to  be  no  good  evidence  that  fish  forms  any  part  of  the  diet.  C.  G.  Zorgdrager 
quotes  Frederick  Martens'  Voyage  to  Spitzbergen  that  over  a  barrel  of  herring  were  taken 
from  the  stomach  of  a  Nordkaper  captured  at  Shetland,  but  this  evidence  may  be  questioned, 
and  it  i.s  more  than  likely  that  some  one  of  the  Finner  Whales  was  meant. 

Stranding. 

It  rarely  happens  that  the  Right  Whale  becomes  stranded  on  our  shores,  except  through 
some  unusual  chance.  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  57,  no.  20,  Nov.  11,  1870) 
gives  an  account  of  a  "forty-barrel  Right  Whale"  that  was  discovered  in  early  November, 
ISTti,  aground  on  the  bar  near  Capaum  Pond,  Nantucket,  where  it  had  evidently  ventured 
in  too  close  to  the  shore.  Preparations  were  made  to  kill  the  whale:  a  boat  was  manned, 
harpoons  procured,  and  the  party  set  forth  to  effect  the  capture,  but  by  this  time  it  had  suc- 
ceeded in  freeing  itself  and  though  pursued  for  eighteen  miles,  eventually  escaped. 

Breeding  Habits. 

Very  little  is  definitely  known  concerning  the  breeding  habits  of  the  Right  Whale  in  the 
North  Atlantic.  Collctt  (1909)  has  recently  furnished  some  new  observations  made  in  the 
Iceland  Seas,  where  of  late  years  a  number  of  these  whales  have  been  taken.  He  states  that 
"three  specimens  were  observed  just  before  copulation  on  the  7th  July,  1908.  A  female  was 
lying  on  her  back,  and  on  each  side  of  her  lay  a  male  with  extended  genital  member,  when 
the  vessel  came  upon  them  and  secured  the  female."  Of  twelve  females  killed  in  the  Iceland 
Seas  in  the  summer  of  1907,  Collett  states  that  each  contained  a  foetus,  and  these  were  all  of 
nearly  the  same  size,  one  to  one  and  a  half  meters  in  length,  the  largest  with  the  rudiments 
of  baleen.  Of  the  eight  females  killed  in  1908,  none  was  gravid,  which  may  indicate  either 
that  the  gravid  females  go  in  separate  schools,  or  that  they  have  young  but  once* in  several 
years.  If  copulation  usually  takes  place  in  summer,  the  period  of  gestation  is  probably  at 
nine  months  or  thereabouts,  for  the  young  are  not  born  until  late  winter. 

On  the  New  England  coasts,  I  have  found  no  record  of  young  Right  Whales  in  the  late 
months  of  the  year,  indicating  that  the  young  have  not  yet  been  born.  Most  of  the  records 
of  young  Right  Whales  here  refer  to  cows  with  their  single  calves,  seen  or  taken  in  the  latter 
part  of  winter  or  spring.  In  1697,  Cotton  Mather  speaks  of  the  capture  of  a  cow  Right  Whale 
near  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  that  was  accompanied  by  a  calf  twenty  feet  long.  On  April  10,  1800, 
a  calf  was  captured  off  Nantucket,  from  among  a  small  number  of  this  species,  and  made  but 
sixteen  barrels  of  oil.  Off  eastern  Long  Island,  about  the  middle  of  May,  1826,  a  calf  was 
killed,  and  three  adults.  About  the  first  of  March,  1870,  a  Right  Whale  with  a  calf  appeared 
in  Provincetown  Harbor,  but  both  eluded  their  pursuers.  Off  eastern  Long  Island,  a  large 


130  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

cow  with  her  calf,  was  unsuccessfully  pursued  about  the  last  of  March,  1884.  Off  Cape 
Cod,  in  the  first  week  of  June,  1888,  a  cow  and  calf  were  found  together  and  both  were  killed 
with  bomb-lances.  Other  instances  might  be  multiplied  of  the  occurrence  of  Right  Whales 
with"  calves  in  the  spring  months  on  our  coast.  Unfortunately  there  are  few  data  available 
as  to  the  size  of  the  smallest  of  these  calves.  That  mentioned  by  Cotton  Mather  as  but  20 
feet  in  length  must  have  been  very  young  indeed,  perhaps  but  recently  born.  The  only 
instance  I  have  found  of  the  capture  of  a  gravid  Right  Whale  on  the  east  coast  of  the  United 
States,  is  that  recorded  by  Dr.  G.  E.  Manigault,1  who  says  that  "a  female,  ready  to  give  birth 
to  her  young,  was  secured  off  the  harbor  of  Port  Royal,  S[outh]  C[arolina]  in  February,  1884, 
and  towed  inside,  when  the  operation  of  cutting  up  was  done  at  leisure.  This  specimen  was 
about  sixty  feet  in  length,  and,  although  I  did  not  visit  it,  I  feel  certain,  from  descriptions,  that 
it  was  a  B.  biscayensis.  The  calf,  upon  measurement,  proved  to  be  20  feet  in  length."  The 
latter  measurement  corresponds  closely  with  that  recorded  by  Mather  for  the  calf  killed  at 
Cape  Cod  (see  above). 

The  evidence  seems  to  show  that  in  case  of  the  Right  Whale,  copulation  probably  takes 
place  in  summer.  Adults  with  foetuses  from  one  to  one  and  a  half  meters  long  are  taken  in  the 
Iceland  Seas  in  summer.  The  young  are  born  in  winter  (January  and  February)  while  the 
whales  are  in  the  warmer  waters  to  the  south,  and  appear  in  spring  with  their  mothers  on  the 
New  England  coasts.  Probably  the  majority  of  those  born  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  are 
brought  forth  south  of  New  England.  The  length  of  the  new  born  whale  is  probably  about 
twenty  feet.  Collett  (1909)  notes  that  the  smallest  of  these  whales  killed  during  the  summer 
in  the  Iceland  seas  were  31,  36,  and  37  feet  long  respectively  (9.45,  10.9,  and  11.2  meters).  It 
can  be  merely  conjecture  whether  these  are  young  less  than  a  year  old.  The  young  one  recorded 
by  Andrews  (1909a)  from  Long  Island  in  December,  1908,  was  but  27  feet  9|  inches  long  and 
so  perhaps  a  young  of  the  preceding  spring  on  its  first  journey  south.  It  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that  small  whales  up  to  forty  feet,  probably  born  at  least  a  year  earlier,  are  found  off  our 
shores  in  spring,  sometimes  accompanying  a  pair  of  larger  whales.  Such  a  one  (40  feet  3  inches 
long)  is  that  described  by  R.  C.  Andrews  (1908)  as  captured  at  Wainscott,  Long  Island,  N.  Y., 
on  February  22,  1907,  accompanied  by  an  adult  female  54  feet  long.  Probably  the  young 
may  accompany  their  parents  for  a  year  or  longer.  Paul  Dudley,  whose  classic  account  of 
the  whales  of  New  England,  prepared  in  1725,  seems  to  be  founded  largely  on  accurate  observa- 
tions, says:  "This  Fish,  when  first  brought  forth,  is  about  twenty  Feet  long,  and  of  little  Worth, 
but  then  the  Dam  is  very  fat.  At  a  Year  old,  when  they  are  called  Short-heads,  they  are  very 
fat,  and  yield  to  fifty  Barrels  of  Oil,  but  by  that  time  the  Dam  is  very  poor,  and  termed  a 
Dry-skin,  and  will  not  yield  more  than  thirty  Barrels  of  Oil,  tho'  of  large  Bulk.  At  two  Years 
old,  they  are  called  Stunts,  being  stunted  after  weaning,  and  will  then  yield  generally  from 

1  Manigault,  G.  E.     Proc.  Elliott  Society,  Charleston,  S.  C.,  1886,  vol.  2,  p.  104. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHAI.K.  131 

twenty  four  to  twenty  eight  Barrels.  After  this  they  are  termed  Scull-[School-]  fish,  their 
Ajic  not  being  known,  but  only  guessed  at  by  the  Length  of  the  Bone  in  their  Mouths."  From 
tliis  it  is  apparent  that  the  whalemen  believed  the  young  accompanies  its  mother  for  at  least 
a  year,  and  is  weaned  when  between  one  and  two  years  old.  A  single  young  is  commonly 
produced  at  a  birth. 

Parental  Care. —  The  attachment  of  the  cow  whales  for  their  young  is  attested  by  the 
whalers,  who  generally  fasten  to  the  calf  first,  for  the  mother  will  not  desert  it,  and  so  both  are 
often  killed. 

Such  wa.s  the  case  with  the  Right  Whale  encountered  off  Cape  Cod  about  the. first  of  June, 
1888,  whose  calf  was  first  harpooned  and  killed,  while  the  cow,  refusing  to  leave  her  offspring, 
circled  around  and  around  until  she  succumbed  after  nine  bomb-lances  had  been  shot  at  her 
iXantucket  Journal,  vol.  10,  no.  36,  June  7,  1888).  Precisely  similar  were  the  actions  of  a 
Right  Whale,  which  with  her  young  calf,  was  pursued  off  the  Spanish  coast  in  the  Bay  of  San 
Sehastiano  in  January,  1854.  The  young  whale  was  killed  and  towed  into  the  bay,  followed 
by  its  mother,  who  in  her  distress  circled  about  the  whalers,  and  even  attempted  to  rescue  her 
offspring  by  clasping  it  with  the  pectoral  flipper  and  trying  to  drag  it  away.  Finally  with  a 
blow  of  her  flukes  she  broke  the  lines  and,  according  to  the  account,  succeeded  in  carrying 
off  her  calf.  It  was  picked  up  next  day,  however,  by  a  passing  vessel  and  brought  back  to  the 
harbor,  still  followed  by  the  old  whale.  This  calf  measured  but  7.56  meters  (24  ft.  9  inches) 
and  no  doubt  was  of  tender  age. 

Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters. 

Former  Abundance. —  At  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  New  England,  and  for  nearly  a 
century  thereafter,  Right  Whales  were  present  in  considerable  numbers  in  the  shallow  waters 
of  the  southeastern  coast  during  the  late  fall,  winter,  and  spring.  How  abundant  they  were 
at  this  time  it  is  difficult  now  to  estimate.  In  Cape  Cod  Bay,  the  voyagers  on  the  Mayflower, 
in  December,  1620,  found  them  daily  "playing  hard  by."  Higgeson  of  Ipswich,  in  1629,  tells 
of  the  "great  store  of  whales,  and  crampusse."  Other  writers  of  the  period  give  similar  expres- 
>ions  of  their  numbers.  At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  after  nearly  seventy-five  years 
of  relentless  persecution  they  must  have  become  much  less  common.  Yet,  on  January  27,  1700, 
Wait  Winthrop1  of  Boston,  writes  to  his  brother  Fitz-John,  that  "the  winter  hath  bin  so  favorable 
that  they  haue  killed  many  whales  in  Cape  Cod  bay;  all  the  boates  round  the  bay  killed  twenty 
nine  whales  in  one  day,  as  som  that  came  this  week  report;  as  I  came  by  when  I  was  there 
last,  one  company  had  killed  thre,  two  of  which  lay  on  Sandwich  beach,  which  they  kild  the 
day  before,  and  reckned  they  had  kild  another  the  same  day,  which  they  expected  would  driue 

1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1892,  ser.  6,  vol.  5,  p.  55. 


132  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

on  shore  in  the  bay."  Twenty-nine  Right  Whales  in  a  single  day  implies  a  large  number  in 
our  near-shore  waters.  Probably  this  great  catch  was  somewhat  exceptional,  however,  for 
already  they  were  rapidly  diminishing.  At  Nantucket,  Macy  tells  us  that  the  greatest  number 
ever  killed  in  a  single  day  was  eleven,  and  that,  in  1726,  the  catch  for  the  entire  season  was  eighty- 
six,  a  record  which  was  not  equalled  there  before  or  since.  This  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century  with  the  killing  out  of  the  whales,  marked  the  decline  of  this  fishery  in  New  England 
waters,  so  that  we  must  suppose  Higgeson  to  have  spoken  truly  when  he  wrote  of  the  "great 
store"  to  be  seen  a  hundred  years  previously. 

Seasonal  Occurrence. —  Paul  Dudley,  of  Massachusetts,  wrote  of  the  Right  Whale,  in  1725, 

that  in  the  fall  of  the  year  they  "go  Westward,  and  in  the  Spring  they  are  headed  Eastward 

The  true  Season  for  the  right  or  Whalebone  Whale,  is  from  the  Beginning  of  February,  to  the 
End  of  May."  1 

Lord  Cornbury,  in  a  letter  of  July,  1708,  says  of  the  whalers  at  Long  Island,  New  York: 
"About  the  middle  of  October  they  begin  to  look  out  for  fish,  the  Season  lasts  all  November, 
December,  January,  February,  and  part  of  March." 

For  a  more  exact  determination  of  the  seasons  when  the  Right  Whale  was  present  on 
the  New  England  coasts,  all  the  records  with  dates,  that  have  been  obtainable,  are  listed  in 
the  following  pages,  and  a  summary  table  is  added.  Among  these  records,  chronologically 
arranged,  are  included  a  number  from  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  that  refer  to  eastern  Long 
Island,  New  York,  but  which  are  here  brought  forward  not  alone  on  account  of  their  value  in 
the  present  connection,  but  also  to  make  them  available  to  those  who  are  unable  to  consult 
that  journal.  The  Nantucketers  of  the  past  century  were  a  race  of  whalemen  so  that  the 
reports  there  given  may  be  rather  certainly  accepted.  The  Right  Whale  and  less  often  the 
Humpback  were  the  only  species  regularly  hunted  in  our  waters  until  the  introduction  of  more 
deadly  apparatus  than  the  hand  harpoon,  so  that  it  may  usually  be  assumed  that  when  "whales" 
are  mentioned  in  the  old  accounts  as  seen  or  pursued,  the  Right  Whale  is  the  species  intended. 
Especially  is  this  the  case,  since  Finbacks  or  Humpbacks  are  usually  so  designated.  Most 
of  such  indefinite  records  are  nevertheless  omitted  from  the  reckoning. 

1606. —  Rosier,  in  his  relation  of  Waymouth's  voyage  to  the  coast  of  Maine,  speaks  of 
seeing,  on  May  14th,  when  off  what  is  now  Sankoty  Head,  Nantucket,  "  many  whales,  as  we  had 
done  two  or  three  dales  before."3  The  species  of  whale  is  not  indicated,  but  some  may  have 
been  Right  Whales. 

1620. —  At  the  time  of  their  arrival  at  Cape  Cod,  in  late  December,  1620,  the  Pilgrims 
found  whales  in  numbers  about  the  bay.  The  oft-quoted  journal  of  Bradford  and  Winslow, 

1  Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  London,  Abridged,  1734,  vol.  7,  pt.  3,  p.  426^127. 

2  Documents  relative  to  Colonial  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1855,  vol.  5,  p.  59. 

3  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1843,  ser.  3,  vol.  8,  p.  156. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  133 

relates  that  "every  day  we  saw  whales  playing  hard  by  us;  of  which  in  that  place,  if  we  had 
instruments  and  means  to  take  them,  we  might  have  made  a  very  rich  return,  which  to  our 
great  grief  we  wanted.  Our  master  and  his  mate,  and  others,  experienced  in  fishing,  professed 
we  might  have  made  three  or  four  thousand  pounds  worth  of  oil.  They  preferred  it  before 
Greenland  whale-fishing,  and  purpose  the  next  winter  to  fish  for  whale  here."  1  This  was 
off  the  present-day  Truro.  It  is  significant  that  there  were  on  board  the  Mayflower,  persons 
"experienced  in  [whale]  fishing,"  who  at  once  saw  that  these  whales  that  daily  came  about  the 
vessel,  were  of  the  sort  that  yielded  profit  in  oil  and  whalebone  —  hence,  Right  Whales.  No 
(loul)t  the  men  "preferred  it  before  Greenland  whale-fishing"  because  of  the  less  hardship 
involved.  Possibly  also  the  fact  that  they  intended  "the  next  winter  to  fish  for  whale  here" 
may  indicate  that  they  were  aware  that  the  Right  Whale  left  the  coast  in  the  warm  season. 

1635.— John  Winthrop  in  his  History  of  New  England  from  1630  to  1649  (1825,  vol.  1, 
p.  157)  mentions  that  in  April  of  this  year  three  or  four  whales  were  cast  ashore  on  Cape  Cod, 
a  thing  which,  he  says,  happens  "almost  every  year."  That  these  were  large  whales,  and 
probably  Right  Whales,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  several  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  colonists 
sailed  across  the  Bay  to  try  out  the  oil. 

1668. —  An  old  journal,  kept  by  the  Rev.  Simon  Bradstreet,  mentions  the  capture  of  a 
whale,  doubtless  of  this  species,  in  Boston  Harbor,  "below  the  Castle"  in  the  month  of  October 
(New  Eng.  Hist,  and  Geneal.  Record,  1855,  vol.  9,  p.  44). 

1697. —  The  good  Cotton  Mather  in  this  year  makes  mention  of  a  cow  whale  with  its  calf, 
captured  at  Yarmouth,  Mass.  "The  cow  was  55  feet  long:  the  bone  was  9  or  10  in.  wide;  a 
cart  upon  wheels  might  have  gone  into  the  mouth  of  it.  The  calf  was  20  ft.  long,  for  unto  such 
vast  calves  the  sea-monsters  draw  forth  their  breasts.  But  so  does  the  good  God  here  give 
this  people  to  suck  the  abundance  of  the  seas." 

1703. —  About  the  middle  of  February,  three  "great  whales,  betwixt  six  and  seven  and 
eight  foot  bone"  were  killed  or  wounded  in  the  waters  about  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  the  wounds 
and  the  marks  of  the  harpoons  are  recorded  by  the  Clerk  of  Edgartown  (Starbuck,  1878,  p.  35). 

1706. —  Under  date  of  December  10th,  John  Higginson  of  Salem  writes  to  Symond  Epos 
of  Ipswich  concerning  "a  rumor  of  several  whales,  that  are  gotten"  (J.  B.  Felt:  History  of 
Ipswich,  Essex,  and  Hamilton,  1834,  p.  109).  Probably  this  refers  to  Right  Whales  killed  in 
Ipswich  Bay. 

1707. —  Starbuck  (1878,  p.  34)  mentions  that  the  Boston  papers  of  December  12th,  recount 
the  pursuit  and  capture  of  a  whale  40  feet  long  in  Boston  Harbor,  near  the  back  of  Noddle's 
Island.  Probably,  from  the  size,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  pursued  and  killed,  it  was  a  Right 
Whate. 

1  A   Relation  or  Journal  of  a  Plantation  settled  at  Plymouth  in  New  England,  and  Proceedings  thereof:  etc.     Coll. 
Mass.  Hist.  Sue.,  ls(  12.  scr.  1,  vol.  8,  p.  204. 


134 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


1712. —  An  item  in  the  Boston  News-Letter  for  Dec.  8,  1712,  tells  us  that  on  the  25th  of 
November,  "six  men  going  off  the  Gurnet  Beach  in  a  whale  boat  at  Duxberry  after  a  whale, 
by  reason  of  the  Boisterousness  of  the  sea,  oversetting  the  Boat,  they  were  all  drowned  " 
(Justin  Winsor:  History  of  Duxbury,  Mass.,  1849,  p.  86.) 

1724. —  Winsor  (History  of  Duxbury,  Mass.,  1849,  p.  86)  notes  on  December  3d,  "a  whale 
captured  off  the  beach." 

1736. —  In  March,  a  large  whale  was  captured  at  sea  by  a  vessel  from  Provincetown, 
and  its  blubber  brought  into  that  port  for  trying  out.  That  this  was  a  Right  Whale  is  evidenced 
by  the  amount  of  oil,  estimated  at  over  100  barrels  (Boston  News-Letter,  Apl.  1,  1736). 

Starbuck  (1878,  p.  158)  quotes  the  Boston  News-Letter  of  Mar.  18th,  that  a  whale 
was  "lately  killed  near  Cape  Cod"  that  would  make  its  owners  £1,500.  He  adds  that  this 
must  have  been  either  an  extraordinary  whale  or  a  surprising  inaccuracy,  implying  a  yield 
of  at  least  2,500  pounds  of  whalebone  and  about  290  barrels  of  oil  at  prices  then  current. 
This  supposed  yield  is  very  nearly  that  of  the  Arctic  Bowhead  Whale,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  more  data  are  not  available  for  determining  if  a  straggler  of  that  species  may  not  have 
occasionally  followed  the  polar  current  thus  far  to  the  south  (see  also  a  record  under  the  year 
1843). 

1755. —  On  February  10th,  of  this  year,  a  town  meeting,  at  Truro,  to  hear  and  act  upon  the 
reply  of  a  Rev.  Caleb  Upham,  in  response  to  a  call  to  this  parish,  was  by  vote  adjourned  to 
the  following  day,  "inasmuch  as  many  of  the  inhabitants  are  called  away  from  the  meeting 
by  news  of  a  whale  in  the  bay."  This  incident  shows  the  importance  of  the  occasional  cap- 
tures of  whales  at  that  time,  and  that  the  people  were  in  readiness  to  pursue  them  whenever 
they  appeared. 

1800. —  On  April  10th,  a  number  of  whales  appeared  on  the  north  side  of  Nantucket  two  or 
three  miles  off  the  land.  Several  boats  were  at  once  sent  in  pursuit,  and  succeeded  in  killing 
two  and  towing  them  ashore.  The  larger  made  thirty-one,  the  smaller  (evidently  a  calf)  but 
sixteen  barrels  of  oil.  April  19th,  nine  days  later,  a  30-barrel  whale  was  killed  and  brought  into 
the  harbor  (O.  Macy:  History  of  Nantucket,  1835,  p.  150).  These  whales  were  doubtless 
Right  Whales,  not  only  because  of  the  amount  of  oil  they  yielded  but  because  they  could  be 
floated  ashore. 

1822. —  Under  date  of  March  28th,  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  notes  that  four  smacks  were 
engaged  in  whaling  off  Long  Island  in  the  early  part  of  that  month,  and  had  brought  to  land 
at  Spermaceti  Cove  a  50-barrel  whale.  A  second  was  reported  to  have  been  captured  at  the 
same  time.  In  the  Inquirer  of  April  4th,  it  is  stated  that  "another  large  whale  has  been  taken 
near  Sandy  Hook."  Again,  under  date  of  May  9th,  "A  whale  was  struck,  in  Boston  Bay,  a  few 
days  since,  by  a  Cape  Cod  vessel,  but  broke  the  tow  line  and  escaped."  These  records  with 
little  doubt,  apply  to  the  Right  Whale.  The  first,  because  of  the  large  yield  of  oil,  could  be 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  \VIIALK.  135 

referred  to  none  other;  and  the  last,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  Cape  Cod  people  recognized 
the  futility  of  pursuing  Finbacks,  and  were  not  in  the  habit  of  molesting  them. 

1826. —  About  the  middle  of  May,  according  to  an  item  in  the  Sagharbor  Corrector  (copied  in 
the  Inquirer  of  May  20th)  a  small  party  of  Right  Whales  appeared  off  Wainscott,  eastern  Long 
Island.  Two  were  first  seen,  one  of  which,  estimated  to  be  a  100-barrel  whale,  was  struck  but 
escaped.  Shortly,  a  calf  was  discovered  and  killed,  which,  it  was  estimated,  would  produce 
forty  barrels  of  oil.  At  the  same  time  a  100-barrel  whale  was  killed  at  Westhampton.  Here, 
then,  were  four  Right  Whales,  three  large  and  one  small,  off  the  shores  of  eastern  Long  Island. 

1828. —  In  February  (according  to  the  Inquirer  of  the  22d  of  that  month),  a  Right  Whale 
44  feet  long,  and  rated  at  about  seventy  barrels  of  oil,  was  killed  in  the  waters  off  Providence, 
11.  I.,  after  having  been  seen  for  several  days  "sporting  in  our  river." 

1838. —  A  Right  Whale,  about  40  feet  long,  was  found  dead  off  Newburyport,  Mass., 
about  September  1st,  and  towed  ashore  at  Salisbury  Point.  It  was  estimated  that  it  would 
make  about  forty  barrels  of  oil  (Newburyport  Herald).  This  is  unusually  early  in  the  fall 
for  this  species  to  appear  on  our  coasts. 

1840.—  A  40-barrel  Right  Whale  was  killed  off  Amagansett,  eastern  Long  Island,  about 
lay  1st  (Inquirer,  May  8,  1840). 

At  about  this  time  also,  Linsley  (1842,  p.  352)  writes  that  a  whale  of  this  species  was  taken 
at  Stonington,  Connecticut  "a  few  years  since."  It  was  a  small  one,  yielding  twenty-seven 
barrels  of  oil,  but  another  from  the  same  'gang'  was  taken  into  Montauk,  Long  Island,  that 
yielded  sixty  barrels. 

1843. —  On  May  llth  of  this  year,  what  is  said  to  have  been  the  largest  Right  Whale  ever 
taken  on  this  coast  was  killed  in  the  South  Channel,  southeast  of  Chatham,  Mass.,  by  a  crew 
of  Provincetown  men,  in  the  little  pink-stern  schooner  Cordelia.  According  to  a  note  in  H.  A. 
Jennings's  Provincetown  or,  Odds  and  Ends  from  the  Tip  End  (1890,  p.  193)  this  whale  was 
estimated  at  nearly  three  hundred  barrels  of  oil  and  about  one  and  one  half  tons  of  whalebone. 
'The  little  craft  not  having  the  facilities  for  handling  the  monster,  saved  only  about  one  hun- 
ed  and  twenty-five  barrels  of  the  oil  and  three  hundred  pounds  of  the  bone,  which  was  over 
fourteen  feet  in  length  [!].  The  little  craft  was  then  full,  hold  and  deck.  Signals  were  made 
to  a  passing  vessel  but  no  notice  was  taken,  so  the  rest  of  the  whale  was  abandoned.  The 
value  of  the  fish  was  over  512,000."  A  contemporary  item  in  the  Boston  Advertiser,  copied 
in  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  July  1,  1843,  briefly  recounts  this  capture,  and  gives  the  locality 
a-  thirty-five  miles  offshore,  Nantucket  bearing  W.  by  N.  It  adds  that  "the  whale  is  the 
largest  that  has  ever  been  caught  from  Provincetown,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  largest  ever 
seen  upon  our  coast."  If  the  statement  be  really  correct  that  the  whalebone  was  fourteen  feet 
long,  it  may  be  that  the  whale  was  a  stray  specimen  of  the  Arctic  Bowhead  (Balaena  mysli- 
celus),  a  supposition  that  is  somewhat  strengthened  by  the  fact  of  its  immense  yield  of  oil. 


136  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

1847. —  The  Inquirer  of  April  21st,  notes  that  five  whales  were  taken  off  the  east  coast  of 
Long  Island,  on  one  day  of  the  previous  week,  between  Southampton  and  East  Hampton. 

1848. —  About  the  last  week  of  January  several  whales  were  seen  off  Long  Island  and 
one  was  killed  near  Southampton  (Inquirer,  Jan.  28,  1848). 

About  the  middle  of  April,  a  considerable  number  of  Right  Whales  were  seen  off  the  Massa- 
chusetts coast,  near  Plymouth,  and  five  vessels  went  off  in  pursuit,  but  with  what  success  does 
not  appear.  At  the  same  time  a  few  were  seen  off  the  eastern  coast  of  Long  Island,  of  which 
two  were  killed,  one  near  Binghampton,  the  other  near  Southampton  (Inquirer,  Apl.  17,  1848). 

1850. —  A  large  Right  Whale  was  captured  during  the  last  week  of  January,  in  Province- 
town  Harbor  (Inquirer,  Jan.  28,  1850);  a  second,  yielding  about  fifty  barrels  of  oil,  was  taken 
a  week  later  (about  the  first  of  February)  in  the  same  harbor  (Inquirer,  Feb.  4,  1850). 

About  November  1st,  a  Right  Whale  appeared,  again  in  Provincetown  Harbor,  and  after 
a  hard  fight  in  which  one  boat  was  damaged  and  the  helmsman  injured,  was  finally  killed. 
It  yielded  about  sixty  barrels  of  oil  (Inquirer,  Nov.  6,  1850). 

1851. —  A  whale  about  44  feet  long  was  captured  March  1st,  near  the  shore  at  Southampton, 
Long  Island.  It  was  estimated  to  yield  only  about  thirty  barrels  (Inquirer,  Mar.  10,  1851). 
A  second  Right  Whale  was  taken  at  the  same  place  about  two  weeks  later  (Inquirer,  Mar.  21, 
1851).  From  the  fact  that  it  yielded  but  twenty-five  barrels  of  oil,  it  was  probably  a  calf. 

1852. —  About  the  middle  of  May,  a  large  Right  Whale  was  captured  in  Massachusetts 
Bay  by  a  crew  from  Provincetown.  It  yielded  seventy-five  barrels  of  oil,  the  whalebone  was 
eight  feet  long,  and  the  total  value  of  oil  and  bone  was  about  12000  (Inquirer,  May  17,  1852). 

During  the  month  of  May,  five  Right  Whales  were  killed  off  Southampton,  Long  Island, 
three  in  the  first  nine  days  of  the  month,  and  two  on  a  single  day  near  its  close.  One  of  these 
yielded  forty  barrels,  the  two  last  together,  seventy  barrels  (Inquirer,  May  17,  and  June  4, 
1852). 

According  to  the  Inquirer  of  October  13,  1852,  two  "whales"  were  captured  by  a  Province- 
town  whaling  schooner  in  Massachusetts  Bay  in  the  early  part  of  October.  Though  there 
is  no  conclusive  evidence  as  to  the  species,  they  were  probably  Right  Whales. 

1853. —  This  season  seems  to  have  been  very  favorable  for  whales  on  the  east  coast  of 
Long  Island.  During  March,  the  schooner  Corwin  of  Greenport,  L.  I.,  made  her  first  trip 
of  about  two  weeks  whaling,  and  although  whales  were  seen  every  day,  the  sea  was  so  rough 
that  but  one  was  killed.  This  yielded  forty-one  barrels  of  oil.  On  her  second  cruise,  the 
Corwin  captured  a  whale  April  1st,  that  made  seventy  or  eighty  barrels  of  oil.  On  March  19th, 
a  Right  Whale  was  struck  by  a  boat's  crew  from  Amagansett,  but  was  not  taken  (Inquirer, 
April  13,  1853).  About  the  middle  of  April,  a  large  whale  rated  at  forty-five  barrels,  was  killed 
off  Southampton,  Long  Island  (Inquirer,  April  18,  1853). 

The  Inquirer  of  May  18,  1853,  relates  that  several  whales  had  been  seen  and  chased  among 
the  vessels  at  anchor  in  Provincetown  Harbor  during  the  spring  and  that  three  or  four  vessels 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  137 

there  were  fitted  for  a  few  days'  whaling  cruise  about  the  shore.  Two  whales  were  killed  in 
the  harbor  and  a  third  escaped  during  the  latter  part  of  April.  The  record  does  not  indicate 
what  species  of  whale  is  meant,  but  some  at  least  may  have  been  Right  Whales. 

1854. — A30-barrel  Right  Whale  was  struck  off  Southampton,  Long  Island,  on  April  29th, 
(Inquirer,  May  10,  1854).  This  whale  proved  to  be  a  fighter,  and  turning  on  his  pursuers, 
demolished  their  boat  and  though  mortally  wounded,  injured  several  of  the  whalers. 

About  the  middle  of  December,  a  dead  Right  Whale,  48  feet  long,  drifted  ashore  at  the 
mouth  of  Sandwich  Harbor,  Mass.  The  blubber  was  said  to  be  seven  inches  thick,  and  the 
oil  would  amount  to  thirty  or  forty  barrels.  A  harpoon  found  in  the  whale  was  supposed  to 
have  been  the  cause  of  its  death.  This  whale  was  probably  the  one  struck  in  Provincetown 
Harbor  on  December  llth,  and  subsequently  lost  through  the  parting  of  the  line  (Inquirer, 
Doc.  20  and  25,  1854). 

V  1856. —  A  '"longshore  whale"  was  captured  off  Southampton,  Long  Island,  on  April 
10th,  by  one  of  the  whaling  companies.  It  was  brought  to  shore  for  trying  out  the  oil,  of 
which  about  thirty  barrels  were  expected  (Inquirer,  April  25,  1855).  From  the  amount  of 
oil,  and  the  fact  that  the  carcass  was  floated  ashore,  this  was  doubtless  a  Right  Whale. 

1858. —  A  40-barrel  whale  was  killed  off  the  coast  of  Southampton,  Long  Island,  about  the 
first  of  March  (Inquirer,  Mar.  5,  1858).  A  second  Right  Whale,  which  yielded  about  thirty 
barrels  of  oil,  was  killed  off  East  Hampton,  Long  Island,  in  the  latter  part  of  November,  by 
boats  from  the  shore.  In  the  last  week  of  the  same  month,  a  large  Right  Whale  appeared 
in  Provincetown  Harbor,  and  though  several  times  fired  at  with  harpoon  guns,  eventually 
escaped  (Inquirer,  Nov.  30,  1858). 

1863. —  A  large  Right  Whale  appeared  off  the  south  coast  of  Nantucket,  a  short  distance 
from  shore,  about  the  10th  of  November,  but  was  not  molested  (Inquirer,  Nov.  14,  1803). 

1864. —  A  Right  Whale  was  killed  in  Cape  Cod  Bay,  in  April  of  this  year.  It  was  said  to 
have  been  48  feet  long,  and  to  have  yielded  eighty  barrels  and  fourteen  gallons  of  oil  (which  sold 
at  .§1.14  per  gallon)  as  well  as  a  thousand  pounds  of  whalebone  valued  at  $1,000.  The  skele- 
ton of  this  whale  is  now  mounted  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  at  Cambridge. 
Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  has  kindly  informed  me  that  according  to  one  of  Che  captors  of  this  whale 
it  was  actually  killed  within  about  four  miles  of  Gurnet  Lights,  Plymouth,  and  towed  by  the 
\\'<tsp  to  Provincetown.  . 

In  the  last  week  of  November,  two  Right  Whales  were  seen  lazily  moving  about  at  the 
north  end  of  Nantucket,  inside  the  bar.  A  boat  was  manned  and  went  in  pursuit,  but  was 
unable  to  get  fast  (Inquirer,  Nov.  30,  1804). 

1870. —  A  Right  Whale  with  a  calf,  entered  Provincetown  Harbor  about  the  first  of  March, 
and  was  at  once  pursued  by  a  boat  from  the  shore.  In  lancing  the  whale,  the  line  was  cut 
and  the  animal  escaped  (Inquirer  and  Mirror,  Mar.  0,  1870). 

1876. —  About  the  first  week  in  November  a  40-barrel  Right  Whale  grounded  on  the 


138  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

bar  near  Capaum  Pond,  Nantucket.  By  the  time  a  boat  had  been  manned  and  sent  in  pursuit 
from  the  shore,  the  whale  had  freed  itself  and  headed  back  to  deeper  water.  Although  closely 
pursued  it  finally  escaped  (Inquirer  and  Mirror,  Nov.  11,  1876). 

1877. —  A  "large  scrag  whale"  was  seen  in  the  outer  bay  of  Nantucket  about  the  first 
of  November  (Inquirer  and  Mirror,  Nov.  3,  1877). 

1884. —  About  the  last  of  March,  Right  Whales  were  seen  off  Long  Island.  Crews  put 
off  in  pursuit  of  a  large  whale  and  her  calf,  but  after  being  led  twenty  miles  out  to  sea,  were 
forced  to  relinquish  the  chase  (Nantucket  Journal,  Apl.  3,  1884). 

1886. —  About  the  middle  of  April  a  small  school  of  Right  Whales  appeared  off  Tuckernuck 
Island,  Mass.,  and  seems  to  have  remained  in  the  neighborhood  a  week  or  more.  At  all  events 
Right  Whales  were  sighted  on  several  subsequent  days.  The  report  states  that  a  small  school 
of  whales  was  first  seen  off  Smith's  Point,  and  on  their  reappearance  two  days  later,  a  boat 
was  sent  in  pursuit.  A  60-barrel  Right  Whale  was  soon  struck  and  it  at  once  headed  to  sea, 
towing  the  boat  at  a  lively  pace.  When  about  thirty  miles  from  land,  the  men  deemed  it  best 
to  cut  the  line,  as  a  thick  fog  had  come  on,  and  with  difficulty  they  found  their  way  back  to 
Muskeget.  Four  days  later,  whales  were  again  sighted  off  shore,  and  very  soon  a  40-barrel 
whale  was  struck  and  killed.  This  whale  almost  at  once  sank  in  eleven  fathoms  of  water, 
so  that  the  crew  was  obliged  to  fasten  a  buoy  to  it  until  it  rose  the  following  day  by  reason 
of  the  gases  generated  through  decomposition  (Nantucket  Journal,  Apl.  22,  1886).  A  later 
report  states  that  all  told  three  Right  Whales  were  killed  and  brought  to  Tuckernuck,  and 
that  the  first  whale  struck  and  lost,  was  later  picked  up  and  towed  into  New  Bedford.  The 
yield  from  the  three  whales  was  about  125  barrels  of 'oil  and  1500  pounds  of  whalebone  (Nan- 
tucket Journal,  Apl.  29,  May  6,  1886).  Near  the  last  of  April,  a  school  of  about  twenty-five 
whales  appeared  in  the  same  vicinity,  and  the  schooner  Glide  put  to  sea  in  pursuit,  but  returned 
without  having  made  a  capture.  Shortly  after  the  vessel's  departure  from  Miacomet  Rip, 
three  large  whales  appeared  and  for  several  hours  were  seen  near  where  the  Glide  had  been 
anchored  (Inquirer  and  Mirror,  May  8,  1886).  Again,  about  the  10th  of  May,  a  Right  Whale 
was  seen  off  Siasconset,  Nantucket  Island.  It  followed  the  shore  line  for  a  long  distance  within 
one  or  two  hundred  yards  of  the  beach,  occasionally  rising  to  blow.  So  clear  was  the  water 
that  the  whale  was  plainly  visible  from  the  bluff  as  it  swam  at  no  great  depth  beneath  the 
surface  (Nantucket  Journal,  May  13,  1886).  This  is  the  largest  visitation  of  Right  Whales 
to  our  coast  of  which  we  have  any  record  in  recent  times. 

The  Nantucket  Journals  of  April,  1887,  have  several  other  references  to  whales  seen  off  the 
coast  of  the  island,  but  there  is  no  clue  to  the  species. 

1887. —  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  notes  that  a  bull  Right  Whale,  taken  this  year  at  Province- 
town,  made  seventy  barrels  of  oil,  and  measured  47  feet  in  length. 

1888. —  Two  Right  Whales  were  killed  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  off  Provincetown,  about 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  189 

the  20th  of  May.  Together  they  yielded  about  170  barrels  of  oil.  A  few  days  later  a  Right 
Whale  about  50  feet  long  was  found  dead  near  the  George's  Bank  and  brought  to  Province- 
town.  It  seems  to  have  been  one  killed  the  previous  week  by  the  steamer  A.  B.  Nickerson 
(Nantucket  Journal,  May  24,  May  31,  1888). 

In  the  first  week  of  June,  the  steamer  A.  B.  Nickerson,  while  hunting  for  whales  off  Cape 
Cod,  discovered  a  Right  Whale  with  a  calf  and  succeeding  in  killing  them  both  with  boml>- 
lances.  The  calf  soon  sank  but  the  old  whale  was  secured  and  towed  to  Provincetown.  It 
was  a  very  large  one  55  or  60  feet  long  and  estimated  at  one  hundred  barrels  of  oil  and  1500 
pounds  of  whalebone  (Nantucket  Journal,  June  7,  1888).  This  is  an  unusually  late  date  for 
the  Right  Whale  on  our  coasts. 

1891. —  Several  Right  Whales  were  seen  off  Surfside,  Nantucket,  about  the  first  week  in 
April  (Inquirer  and  Mirror,  Apl.  11,  1891). 

1893. —  Major  E.  A.  Mearns  furnishes  me  with  a  note  of  what  was  said  to  have  been  a 
Right  Whale,  about  50  feet  in  length,  that  was  stranded  on  Ochre  Point,  Newport,  R.  I.  The 
blubber  had  already  been  removed  by  one  Mr.  Church  at  Tiverton,  where  the  whale  had  been 
killed.  The  carcass  was  finally  sunk  at  sea  by  order  of  the  City  Council.  The  exact  date  is 
not  available. 

1894. —  Major  Mearns  sends  me  also  the  record  of  a  Right  Whale  that  appeared  off  Beaver 
Tail,  Conanicut  Island,  R.  I.,  in  this  year.  It  finally  was  sighted  off  Fort  Adams,  where  it 
was  shot  and  killed  (exact  date  unknown).  He  adds  that  Mr.  Joshua  P.  Clark,  formerly  in 
charge  of  the  Life  Saving  Station  at  Watch  Hill,  R.  I.,  told  him  that  Right  Whales  have  been 
Keen  off  Block  Island  in  more  recent  years,  although  the  most  part  of  the  whales  seen  in  those 
waters  are  Finbacks. 

1895. —  A  large  bull  Right  Whale  measuring  some  42  feet  in  length,  and  rated  at  fifty  or 
sixty  barrels  of  oil,  was  killed  in  late  March,  off  Nahant.  According  to  the  reports,  this  whale, 
or  what  was  believed  to  be  the  same  individual,  first  appeared  early  in  the  preceding  October 
near  Hull,  Mass.,  and  was  usually  to  be  seen  in  the  deep  water  near  Harding's  Ledge,  or  else- 
where in  that  part  of  Boston  Bay.  A  crew  of  experienced  men  was  finally  got  together,  and 
succeeded  in  harpooning  the  whale,  which  eventually  made  off  with  some  thirty  fathoms  of 
line  attached  to  a  stout  cask.  Two  days  after  (on  April  1st)  the  whale  was  found  dead  25  miles 
north  of  Race  Point  by  the  tug  Peter  Bradley  from  Provincetown,  whither  the  prize  was  at 
once  taken.  It  was  later  exhibited  at  Boston  (Nantucket  Journal,  Feb.  7,  Mar.  14,  May  9, 
1895).  The  fact  of  its  having  wintered  in  Boston  Bay  from  October  till  March,  is  certainly 
of  much  interest  if  true.  The  actual  substantiation  of  this  belief  is,  of  course,  quite  out  of 
the  question.  My  friend,  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake,  has  given  me  some  measurements  of  this  whale, 
which  are  elsewhere  referred  to,  and  from  these  he  has  drawn  the  subject  of  Plate  8. 

1897. —  Two  Right  Whales  were  seen  off  the  Great  Neck  Life  Saving  Station,  Nantucket, 


140  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

about  the  1st  of  April.  Two  boats  were  made  ready  and  three  days  later  several  Right  Whales 
appeared  near  the  same  place.  The  boats  at  once  started  in  pursuit  and  one  of  them  came 
nearly  within  striking  distance  when  its  rudder  broke,  so  that  the  whale  escaped  (Nantucket 
Journal,  Apl.  8,  1897). 

1909. —  On  January  15th,  a  small  Right  Whale,  nearly  35  feet  long,  came  into  Province- 
town  Harbor  and  entangled  itself  in  one  of  the  fish-traps,  where  it  was  killed  by  a  bomb-lance. 
Local  report  states  that  the  whale  had  been  seen  in  the  bay  for  a  day  or  two  previous.  This 
specimen  I  saw  five  days  later  at  Provincetown,  and  it  was  afterward  brought  to  Boston  and 
exhibited  by  some  enterprising  young  undertakers  who  injected  it  thoroughly  with  formalin. 
One  of  the  men  at  Provincetown,  who  had  been  once  himself  a  whaler,  vouchsafed  the  informa- 
tion that  this  was  a  "runt"  or  "scrag"  whale,  a  term  that  formerly  much  mystified  the  system- 
atists,  who  concluded  from  the  accounts  of  whalers,  that  the  "scrag"  must  be  a  distinct 
species,  for  which,  indeed,  Cope  even  erected  a  new  genus  (Agaphelus).  I  have  elsewhere 
given  notes  and  measurements  of  this  specimen,  and  the  sketch  shown  on  Plate  9  is  drawn 
from  these. 

1910. —  Mr.  D.  C.  Stull,  of  Provincetown,  tells  me  that  a  Right  Whale  was  seen  in  the 
waters  off  that  port  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  but  it  was  not  captured.  He  further  says  that 
they  are  more  often  seen  in  the  spring,  but  of  late  years  few  have  been  observed.  An  old 
captain  at  Nantucket  likewise  informs  me  they  are  now  of  much  rarer  occurrence  off  those 
shores  than  formerly,  and  that  the  spring  is  the  season  when  they  are  most  apt  to  appear. 

1913. —  The  Keeper  at  the  U.  S.  Life  Saving  Station  on  Muskeget  Island  told  me  that 
"about  three  weeks  ago"  or  about  the  24th  of  May,  two  were  seen  together  off  the  south  shore 
of  that  islet  but  no  one  was  prepared  to  give  them  chase. 

From  the  table  opposite,  the  numerous  Long  Island  records  have  been  omitted  so  that  it 
refers  wholly  to  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  .and  Rhode  Island.  It  is  curious  that  I  have  come 
upon  no  specific  records  for  the  Right  Whale  from  the  rocky  shores  of  Maine,  although  Hitch- 
cock includes  it  without  comment  in  his  nominal  list  of  the  Mammalia  of  that  State.1  Bigelow 
has  shown  (1914),  however,  that  the  northwestern  part  of  the  Gulf  of  Maine  is  relatively  poor 
in  plankton,  which  may  in  part  account  for  this. 

A  survey  of  the  foregoing  records  and  table  shows  that  the  Right  Whale  is  practically 
absent  from  the  New  England  waters  during  the  summer  and  fall  from  early  June  until  Octo- 
ber. The  single  September  record  is  of  a  Right  Whale  found  dead  off  Newburyport,  Mass., 
about  the  first  of  that  month,  1838.  When  this  species  was  more  plentiful  than  now,  the  first 
individuals  doubtless  appeared  in  our  waters  during  the  latter  half  of  October,  for  at  Long 
Island,  according  to  the  letter  of  Lord  Cornbury  in  1708  (see  antea,  p.  132)  the  whalemen  there 

1  Hitchcock,  C.  H.     Proc.  Portland  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  1862,  vol.  1,  p.  66. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC:.  RIGHT  WHALE. 


141 


Records  of  Right  Whales  in  New  England, 
(n  =  number  indefinite). 


Locality 

Year 

Jan. 

Feb. 

March 

April 

May 

Juno 

July 

Aug. 

.-••pi 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

(  "apt1  (  Oil  Bay  

1620 

(  'MIX'  (  '(>(!                          

1635 

3 

Boston  Harbor                

1668 

1 

Cape  Cod  Bay  
Marl  ha's  \  ineyard 

1700 
1703 

H 

3 

Ipswich  Bav 

1706 

Boston  Harbor 

1707 

1 

I)u\l>urv                        

1712 

1 

Duxburv                  

1724 

1 

OIT  Provincetown 

1736 

2 

Truro 

1755 

1 

\ant  ticket 

1800 

3+w 

Boston  Bay 

1822 

1 

Off  Providence,  R.  I  
Oil'  Newburyport 

1828 
1838 

1 

i 

Off  Chatham 

1843 

1 

OIF  I'lvinoutli 

1848 

n 

Provincetown  Harbor 

1850 

1 

1 

1 

Massachusetts  Bay 

1852 

1 

2 

Provincetown  Harbor 

1853 

2 

Sandwich  Harbor 

1854 

J 

Provincetown  Harbor 

1858 

1 

Nantucket 

1863 

1 

Nan  tucket 

1864 

2 

Near  Provincetown 

1864 

1 

Provincetown  Harbor 

1870 

•) 

Nantucket 

1876 

1 

. 

Nantucket 

1877 

1 

Off  Tuckernuck  Id. 

1886 

2  n 

Off  Siasconset 

1886 

1 

Massachusetts  Bay 

1888 

2 

George's  Bank 

1  SXS 

1 

(  )ll  Provincetown 

1888 

" 

N'jintucket  

1891 

it 

Nahant  

1895 

1 

Nantucket 

1897 

2 

Provincetown  Harbor 

1909 

1 

Off  Muskeget  

1913 

• 

2 

Totals  .        ... 

2+71 

6 

5 

ll+5n 

9 

2 

0 

0 

i 

3 

8 

3+2n 

142  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

began  to  "look  out  for  fish"  about  the  middle  of  that  month.  In  October,  1688,  a  whale  proba- 
bly Eubalaena,  was  killed  in  Boston  Harbor,  and  two  others,  probably  also  Eubalaena,  in 
October,  1852,  but  otherwise,  the  earliest  specific  instances  for  its  appearance  in  our  waters 
in  fall  seem  to  be  those  given  above  for  1850,  1876,  and  1877,  when  single  individuals  were 
noted  during  the  first  few  days  of  November.  The  figures  show  that  in  this  month  and  in 
December  they  were  present  in  some  numbers.  Probably  most  of  them  were  leisurely  follow- 
ing the  coast  to  more  southerly  latitudes,  so  that  by  January  there  is  an  apparent  falling  off, 
which  in  our  table,  owing  to  the  paucity  of  entries,  is  perhaps  more  than  normally  evident. 
It  is  significant,  however,  that  the  addition  of  the  Long  Island  records  above  detailed  hardly 
changes  the  total  for  this  month.  The  decrease  after  December  no  doubt  indicates  an  actual 
migratory  movement  to  the  south,  and  is  in  accord  with  the  statement  of  Dudley  '  in  1725, 
that  in  the  fall  of  the  year  the  Right  Whales  go  westward,  following  the  general  trend  of  the  shore. 
It  seems  that  already  by  December  this  species  used  to  appear  off  the  coasts  of  Delaware, 
and  probably  wintered  regularly  as  far  south  as  the  Bermuda  Islands  and  the  coasts  of  South 
Carolina.  In  the  latter  region  they  probably  reached  their  general  southern  limit,  and  in 
this  were  doubtless  influenced  by  the  warm  Gulf  Stream  waters  which  turn  eastward  away  from 
the  shore  at  about  this  latitude.  Manigault  (Proc.  Elliott  Soc.,  1886,  vol.  2,  p.  98-104) 
describes  a  Right  Whale  killed  in  January,  1880,  in  Charleston  Harbor,  S.  C.,  and  a  second 
shortly  after  was  cast  ashore  on  Sullivan's  Island,  S.  C.  A  third  was  captured  off  the  harbor 
of  Port  Royal,  S.  C.,  in  February,  1884,  and  a  fourth  off  Cape  Lookout,  North  Carolina, 
Mar.  20,  1894.  These  are  all  therefore  wintering  animals.  Some  numbers  must  have  wintered 
as  far  north  as  Massachusetts  Bay,  but  probably  the  greater  part  move  to  the  south  of  Cape 
Cod  after  December. 

An  instance  of  the  supposed  wintering  of  a  Right  Whale  in  Boston  Bay  is  noted  in  1895. 
What  was  believed  to  be  the  same  individual  was  said  to  have  appeared  near  Hull  in  early 
October,  1894,  and  after  having  been  repeatedly  seen  in  that  vicinity  during  the  succeeding 
months  was  finally  killed  near  Nahant  in  the  following  March.  The  evidence  does  not  seem 
wholly  satisfactory  that  the  October  animal  was  even  a  Right  Whale,  but  yet  the  story  may 
be  essentially  true. 

After  January  comes  a  distinct  increase  in  the  number  reported  in  the  Massachusetts 
and  neighboring  waters.  This  increase  apparently  took  place  from  about  the  middle  of  Febru- 
ary on,  and  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  northward  migration  of  these  whales  had  then  already 
begun.  In  March  and  April  the  numbers  increase,  so  that  in  the  latter  month  they  seem  more 
numerous  than  at  any  other  period  of  the  year,  along  the  southern  coasts  of  both  Massachusetts 
and  Long  Island.  The  reason  for  this  is  apparent;  for  in  following  the  trend  of  our  coast  south- 
ward in  fall,  they  must  in  part  pass  well  out  to  sea  beyond  Cape  Cod,  but  in  returning  north- 

1  Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  London,  Abridged,  1734,  vol.  7,  pt.  3,  p.  426, 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  143 

ward  along  the  coasts  of  the  central  Atlantic  .States  they  are  turned  abruptly  eastward  by  the 
outfitting  mass  of  Long  Island  and  the  promontory  ending  in  the  elbow  of  Cape  Cod.  This 
barrier  forms  slightly  more  than  a  right  angle  with  the  general  coastline  to  the  south,  and 
extends  northeasterly  for  nearly  five  degrees  of  longitude  or  250  miles.  In  passing  north- 
ward therefore,  a  great  part  of  the  whales  in  a  belt  250  miles  in  width,  are  turned  to  the  eastward 
and  converge  on  the  south  and  east  shores  of  Long  Island  and  Massachusetts  to  round  Cape 
Cod.  That  this  period  of  greatest  abundance  was  the  same  in  former  times  as  well  as  during 
the  last  hundred  or  more  years,  is  evidenced  also  by  the  statement  of  Dudley,  in  1725,  previ- 
ously quoted,  that  "in  the  Spring  they  are  headed  Eastward,"  and  that  "the  true  [i.  e.  best] 
Season  for  the  right  or  Whalebone  Whale,  is  from  the  Beginning  of  February,  to  the  End  of  May." 
If  a  more  or  less  steady  continuance  in  this  same  direction  were  maintained  it  would  result  in 
comparatively  few  Right  Whales  reaching  the  northern  part  of  the  Gulf  of  Maine,  just  as  in 
fall,  the  Nova  Scotia  peninsula  would  perhaps  guide  them  off  from  those  waters.  This  may 
in  some  measure  account  for  their  apparent  absence  or  scarcity  on  the  shores  of  northern  New 
England.  The  more  frequent  appearance  of  whales  in  'schools,'  in  the  spring  of  the  year  may 
mean  nothing  more  than  this  convergence  of  the  lines  of  movement  on  our  southern  shores. 
Thus  on  April  10,  1800,  a  number  of  whales  appear  off  Nantucket;  again  in  the  middle  of  May, 
1826,  a  small  school  is  found  off  eastern  Long  Island;  five  whales  are  killed  off  the  same  coast 
in  one  day  in  April  of  1847;  a  considerable  number  are  off  Plymouth  in  mid- April,  1848;  finally 
in  mid-April  of  1886,  a  small  school  of  Right  Whales  appears  off  Tuckernuck  and  Nantucket, 
and  near  the  end  of  the  month  the  same  or  a  second  school,  consisting  of  some  twenty-five 
whales,  the  largest  number  together  of  which  there  is  any  record  in  our  bounds  for  probably 
over  a  century.  During  the  greater  part  of  May  the  northeastward  movement  is  continued, 
but  is  normally  over  by  the  middle  of  the  month,  for  the  records  are  very  few  indeed  after  the 
third  week.  The  only  June  record  that  I  have  found  of  the  Right  Whale  in  our  waters,  is 
of  a  large  cow  with  her  calf,  both  of  which  were  killed  off  Cape  Cod  early  in  the  first  week  of 
June,  1888. 

It  is  without  the  scope  of  the  present  paper  to  trace  the  northward  course  of  the  Right 
Whales  after  they  have  left  our  coasts  in  May.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  they  seek  the  waters 
off  the  Grand  Banks  and  thence  northeasterly,  even  to  Iceland.  They  appear  to  avoid  the 
Newfoundland  waters,  and  are  not  taken  at  the  whaling  stations  there.  They  were  formerly 
common  in  Iceland  waters  and  according  to  Buchet  (1895)  and  Collett  (1909)  they  have  again 
appeared  in  small  numbers  of  recent  years,  usually  in  June  and  July.  It  should  be  noted,  how- 
ever, that  those  animals  in  the  seas  east  of  Iceland  are  quite  likely  the  same  that  winter  on 
the  coasts  of  southern  Europe.  They  were  formerly  common  in  the  vicinity  of  the  North  Cape 
of  Norway,  whence  the  name  'Nordkaper,'  applied  by  the  whalers  of  those  seas. 

The  reason  of  this  seasonal  migration  of  the  Right  Whale  is  not  yet  known.     It  is  unlikely 


144  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

that  temperature  is  the  direct  cause,  as  some  have  supposed,  and  that  the  whales  retire  from 
the  colder  water  of  the  north  in  order  to  seek  warmer  seas  to  the  south.  The  thick  coating  of 
blubber  must  tend  to  protect  the  whale  from  extremes  of  temperature.  More  likely  the  ques- 
tion of  temperature  is  indirectly  of  importance  as  it  affects  the  animal  life  on  which  the  whale 
feeds,  so  that  more  exact  data  as  to  the  food  of  this  species  would  probably  be  helpful  in  deter- 
mining the  cause  for  its  migrations.  The  supposed  retirement  of  the  pregnant  females  to  the 
quiet  bays  of  more  southern  latitudes  in  order  there  to  bring  forth  their  young,  seems  also 
an  insufficient  reason,  since  both  sexes  migrate  equally,  and  the  quiet  bays  are  hardly  frequented 
by  these  animals.  As  already  mentioned  the  small  shrimp,  Thysanoessa  inermis,  on  which  this 
whale  is  known  to  feed,  has  been  found  in  January  on  at  least  two  occasions,  in  the  Wood's 
Hole  region,  whereas  Bigelow  (1914)  failed  to  find  it  at  all  during  extensive  towing  operations 
carried  on  in  July  and  August  in  various  parts  of  the  Gulf  of  Maine.  It  is  common  in  more 
northern  waters  in  summer,  however.  These  facts  may  indicate  that  the  Right  Whale's  migra- 
tions are  undertaken  in  the  pursuit  of  this  crustacean,  which  is  found  in  our  waters  in  the  colder 
months,  but  is  apparently  absent  from  them  in  summer. 

Fossil  Remains. —  Although  bones  of  whalebone  whales  are  of  "not  infrequent  occurrence 
on  the  less  elevated  terraces  of  the  Pleistocene  period  on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence,"  1  and  may 
represent  perhaps  three  genera,  there  are  but  few  records  of  the  discovery  of  such  remains 
within  the  limits  of  New  England.  Several  vertebrae,  considered  "to  be  those  of  a  Cetacean" 
were  "  dug  up  in  a  clay  stratum,  near  the  bed  of  a  small  stream  in  Machias,  Me., ...  .at  the 
depth  of  about  eight  feet"  nearly  seventy  years  ago.2  These  were  presented  to  the  Society  in 
its  early  days,  and,  in  1847,  were  submitted  to  Count  Pourtales  for  report,  but  there  is  no 
record  of  them  further,  nor  is  any  indication  given  as  to  their  identity.  Since  other  fossils 
from  these  clays  are  of  a  comparatively  recent  type,  it  is  probable  that  if  they  were  really 
cetacean,  they  were  of  some  living  species. 

Through  the  kindness  of  the  authorities  of  the  Peabody  Museum  at  Salem,  Mass.,  I  have 
lately  examined  a  large  rib  of  Eubalaena  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation,  which  was  dug 
up  at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  a  few  years  since.  The  label  indicates  that  it  was  found  five  feet 
under  ground,  but  there  is  no  record  of  the  exact  spot  nor  of  the  nature  of  the  soil.  It  shows 
no  appearance  of  great  age  and  is  very  likely  modern.  The  two  portions  (for  the  lower  end  is 
broken  off)  together  measure  75  inches  along  the  outer  curve. 

In  a  previous  century,  Zaccheus  Macy  of  Nantucket,  writing  to  the  Massachusetts  Histori- 
cal Society3  under  date  of  October  10th,  1792,  says  that  "one  time  when  the  old  men  were 
digging  a  well  at  the  stage  called  Siasconset,  it  is  said,  they  found  a  whale's  bone  near  thirty 
feet  below  the  face  of  the  earth,  which  things  are  past  our  accounting  for."  3 

1  Dawson,  J.  W.     Canadian  Nat.,  1883,  new  ser.,  vol.  10,  p.  385. 

-  (Jackson,  C.  T.)     Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  1847,  vol.  2,  p.  255. 

3  Macy,  O.     History  of  Nantucket,  1835,  p.  263. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC    RIGHT  WHALE.  145 

The  occurrence  of  remains  of  modern  species  of  large  Cetacea  in  our  Pleistocene  clays, 
especially  those  of  Vermont  and  southern  Maine,  is  to  be  looked  for,  in  association  with  those 
of  the  White  Whale,  the  Walrus,  and  sundry  mollusks  already  known  from  those  formations. 

New  England  Right  Whale  Fishery. 

The  Right  Whale  fishery  on  the  New  England  coast,  at  one  time  a  regular  and  lucrative 
pursuit,  has  long  since  ceased  to  exist  except  in  the  most  casual  way.  From  the  time  of  the 
M'ti  lenient  of  Plymouth  for  a  hundred  years,  it  employed  many  small  boats  and  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  settlers  at  certain  times  of  the  year  when  the  whales  were  to  be  found  along  the 
shores.  The  accounts  of  this  important  industry  that  have  come  down  to  us  are  barely  sufficient 
to  reconstruct  an  outline  of  it.  As  the  whales  became  less  frequent  in  the  nearer  waters,  larger 
craft  were  fitted  out  for  taking  them  at  sea.  At  first  these  vessels  made  cruises  of  only  a  few 
days  at  most,  but  gradually  they  fared  farther  and  farther  from  the  home  ports  in  pursuit  of 
both  Right  and  Sperm  Whales,  and  even  to  the  arctic  ice  for  the  Bowhead.  Thus  began  to 
develop  the  whaling  industry  of  Nantucket  and  New  Bedford,  the  importance  of  which  it  is 
difficult  to  estimate,  not  alone  on  account  of  the  fortunes  made  by  the  ship  owners,  but  because 
of  the  training  in  seamanship  that  helped  to  establish  the  future  nation's  naval  prestige.  The 
rise  and  development  of  American  whaling  has  been  often  traced,  and  need  not  here  concern 
us. 

The  American  Indians  probably  attacked  the  whale  but  seldom.  An  occasional  dead  one 
cast  on  shore,  was  nevertheless  much  appreciated  by  their  hardy  stomachs.  Thus  good  Roger 
Williams  of  Rhode  Island,  in  his  Key  into  the  Language  of  America,  printed  in  1643,  defines 
the  word  "Potop;  the  whak,"  and  adds:  "In  some  places  whales  are  often  cast  up.  I  have 
seen  some  of  them,  but  not  above  sixtie  foot  long.  The  natives  cut  them  in  several  parcels, 
and  give  and  send  them  far  and  near,  for  an  acceptable  present  or  dish"  (Coll.  Mass.  Hist. 
Soc.,  1810,  ser.  1,  vol.  3,  p.  224).  Bartholomew  Gosnold  in  the  last  of  May,  1602,  found 
at  the  north  end  of  Cuttyhunk  Island,  Mass.,  "many  huge  bones  and  ribbes  of  whales,"  the 
remains,  perhaps,  of  such  as  had  drifted  ashore  or  been  killed  by  the  aborigines.  The  Indian 
shell  heaps  on  the  Maine  coast  have  also  yielded  a  few  portions  of  whale  bones,  to  indicate 
that  the  natives  occasionally  feasted  on  whale  meat. 

In  Rosier's  Relation  of  Waymouth's  Voyage  to  the  Coast  of  Maine,  1605  (republished 
by  the  Gorges  Society,  1887,  p.  158)  is  a  quaintly  worded  account  of  aboriginal  whaling  by  the 
New  England  Indians:  " One  especiall  thing  is  their  manner  of  killing  the  Whale,  which  they 
call  Powdawe  [in  the  Abenaki  tongue,  the  editor  explains,  this  signifies  'he  blows' --the 
Abenaki  for  whale  is  '  Pud6b6 ']  and  will  describe  his  forme ;  how  he  bloweth  vp  the  water  and 
that  he  is  12  fathoms  long;  and  that  they  [the  Indians]  go  in  company  of  their  King  with  a 
multitude  of  their  boats,  and  strike  him  with  a  bone  made  in  fashion  of  a  harping  iron  fastened 


146  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

to  a  rope,  which  they  make  great  and  strong  of  the  barke  of  trees,  which  they  veare  out  after 
him;  then  all  their  boats  come  about  him,  and  as  he  riseth  aboue  water,  with  their  arrowes 
they  shoot  him  to  death;  when  they  haue  killed  him  &  dragged  him  to  shore,  they  call  all  their 
chiefe  lords  together,  &  sing  a  song  of  joy:  and  those  chiefe  lords,  whom  they  call  Sagamos, 
divide  the  spoile,  and  giue  to  euery  man  a  share,  which  pieces  so  distributed  they  hang  vp  about 
their  houses  for  prouision :  and  when  they  boile  them,  they  blow  off  the  fat,  and  put  to  their 
peaze,  maiz,  and  other  pulse,  which  they  eat."  The  species  of  whale  thus  killed  by  the  Indians 
is  not  indicated,  but  it  is  unlikely  that  they  could  attempt  the  capture  of  any  but  Right  Whales, 
which  were  the  least  difficult  to  overcome.  Doubtless  a  log  of  wood  was  fastened  as  a  drag 
to  the  rope  which  the  Indians  "veared  out"  on  striking  the  whale. 

An  absurd  relation  by  Joseph  de  Acosta,  in  1590,  of  a  supposed  method  of  capturing  whales 
by  the  Indians  of  Florida,  gained  currency,  and  long  was  quoted  in  the  old  works  on  natural 
history,  to  the  effect  that  the  Indian  approached  the  sleeping  whale  in  his  canoe  and  drove  a 
wooden  stake  into  each  of  its  nostrils,  after  which  he  continued  to  bestride  his  quarry  till  its 
struggles  ceased,  and  then  towed  it  ashore.  A  cleverly  executed  engraving  illustrative  of  this 
strange  story  was  published  in  the  same  year  by  Theodore  de  Brie  in  his  Collectiones  Pere- 
grinationum  in  Indiana  Orientalem  et  Occidentalem  (Frankfurt  am  Main,  1590).  The  figures 
appear  to  represent  Right  Whales. 

Early  Whaling  at  Cape  Cod  and  Massachusetts  Bay. —  When  the  historic  Mayflower 
rounded  Cape  Cod  into  Massachusetts  Bay,  she  carried  on  board  a  "master  and  his  mate, 
and  others,  experienced  in  fishing"  who  greatly  regretted  their  lack  of  proper  tackle  for  the 
taking  of  the  whales  that  daily  came  about  their  ship.  Bradford's  Journal  informs  us  that 
these  people  intended  the  following  year  to  "fish  for  whale  here,"  but  with  what  success  we 
are  not  informed,  if  indeed  the  project  was  carried  out  at  that  time.  That  the  whales  were  then 
(December,  1620)  common  and  that  their  value  was  appreciated  by  our  forefathers,  is  further 
shown  in  Bradford's  remark  that  "we  saw  daily  great  whales  [at  Cape  Cod],  of  the  best  kind  for 
oil  and  bone,  come  close  aboard  our  ship,  and,  in  fair  weather,  swim  and  play  about  us."  Evi- 
dently these  were  Right  Whales,  since  the  quality  of  their  oil  and  'bone'  was  well  known  to 
the  seamen.  The  narrator  adds:  "There  was  once  one,  when  the  sun  shone  warm,  came  and 
lay  above  water,  as  if  she  had  been  dead,  for  a  good  while  together,  within  half  a  musket  shot 
of  the  ship;  at  which  two  were  prepared  to  shoot,  to  see  whether  she  would  stir  or  no.  He 
that  gave  fire  first,  his  musket  flew  in  pieces,  both  stock  and  barrel;  yet,  thanks  be  to  God, 
neither  he  nor  any  man  else  was  hurt  with  it,  though  many  were  there  about.  But  when  the 
whale  saw  her  time,  she  gave  a  snuff,  and  away."  1  So  ended  the  first  attempt  of  the  Pilgrims 
to  capture  whales  in  New  England. 

In  1629,  Higgeson,  "a  Reverend  Divine,"  mentions  in  his  account  of  the  "commodities" 

1  Young,  Alexander.   Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  1844,  p.  146. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC    RIGHT  WHALE.  147 

of  New  England  "great  store  of  whales,  and  crampusse."  '  Higgeson  lived  at  Salem.  Richard 
Mather,  who  came  to  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1635,  likewise  tells  of  "mighty  whales  spewing 
up  water  in  the  air,  like  the  smoke  of  a  chimney,  and  making  the  sea  about  them  white  and 
hoary,  as  is  said  in  Job,  of  such  incredible  bigness  that  I  will  never  wonder  that  the  body  of 
Jonas  could  be  in  the  belly  of  a  whale"  (Sabine's  Report,  p.  42) .2  Starbuck  shows  that  one  of 
the  motives  for  the  establishment  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  was  the  promise  of  a  good 
return  from  the  fisheries,  and  in  the  original  charter  the  colonists  were  "given  and  graunted 
....  all  fishes  —  royal  fishes,  whales,  balan,  sturgeons,  and  other  fishes,  of  what  kinde  or  nature 
soever  that  shall  at  any  tyme  hereafter  be  taken  in  or  within  the  saide  seas  or  waters."  The 
Massachusetts  colonists  were  quick  to  avail  themselves  of  such  whales  as  were  drifted  to  their 
shores.  Thus,  John  Winthrop  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  writes  that  in  April,  1635, 
"some  of  our  people  went  to  Cape  Cod,  and  made  some  oil  of  a  whale,  which  was  cast  on  shore. 
There  were  three  or  four  cast  up,  as  it  seems  there  is  almost  every  year."  3  These  were  proba- 
bly Right  Whales,  at  this  season  moving  northward,  and  the  amount  of  oil  yielded  was  thus 
sufficient  to  induce  the  people  to  sail  across  the  Bay  to  render  it. 

Concerning  the  capture  of  whales  on  our  coasts  previous  to  1650,  no  record  appears  to 
have  come  down  to  us.  There  is  an  old  poem  on  New  England  written  by  William  Morrell, 
who  came  to  Plymouth  in  1623.  It  was  published  in  London,  on  his  return  to  England,  and 
implies  that  whales  were  already  an  object  of  pursuit  on  our  shores,  for 

"The  mighty  whale  doth  in  these  harbours  lye, 
"Whose  oyle  the  careful  mearchant  deare  will  buy."  4 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  Right  Whales  were  common  in  their  season,  and  that  the  colonists 
were  beginning  to  make  serious  efforts  for  their  capture.  This  is  evident  from  the  frequent 
orders  of  the  General  Court  concerning  the  granting  of  fishing  privileges,  and  the  many  refer- 
ences to  '  drift '  whales  which  after  being  harpooned,  had  escaped,  only  to  die  and  drift  ashore. 
Controversy  waxed  high  over  the  title  to  possession  of  such  'drift  fish,'  for  it  has  ever  been 
the  whaleman's  law  that  he  who  first  struck  the  whale  has  the  prior  claim.  If,  therefore, 
such  title  could  not  be  shown,  either  by  the  identification  of  the  harpoon  (marked  so  as  to  be 
known)  or  by  some  other  sign,  then  the  finder  of  the  dead  animal  was  entitled  to  all  or  part 
of  his  find. 

It  is  clear  that  for  some  time  previous  to  1650  the  settlers  of  Cape  Cod  and  Massachu- 
setts Bay  undertook  to  carry  out  the  intention  of  the  Mayflower's  master,  "to  fish  for  whale 

1  New-Englands  Plantation.  Or  a  short  and  true  Description  of  the  Commodities  and  Discommodities  of  that  countrey. 
Written  in  the  year  1629,  by  Mr.  Higgeson,  a  Reverend  Divine,  now  there  resident.  Reprinted  in  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc., 
1806,  ser.  1,  vol.  1,  p.  119. 

1  Starbuck,  A.     History  of  the  American  whale  fishery.     Rept.  U.  S.  Comm.  Fish  and  Fisheries  for  1875-6,  1878,  p.  5. 

3  Winthrop,  John.   History  of  New  England  from  1630  to  1649,  1825,  vol.  1,  p.  157. 

4  Reprinted  in  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1806,  ser.  1,  vol.  1,  p.  130. 


148  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

here."  In  the  decade  following  1650,  the  Court  records  show  frequent  suits  for  the  adjudica- 
tion of  the  claims  of  rival  whalers;  moreover,  the  fact  that  at  this  time  the  General  Courts  of 
the  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  Bay  Colonies  began  to  formulate  regulations  for  the  pre- 
vention of  strife  and  misunderstanding  over  the  ownership  of  dead  whales,  is  evidence  that 
the  industry  was  then  beginning  to  flourish  and  that  numerous  whales  were  killed. 

Even  at  this  early  date,  it  appears  that  the  Government  claimed  a  portion  of  the  oil  of 
whales  cast  on  shore  within  the  bounds  of  the  Colony.  So  in  1652,  "Mr.  Howes"  was  appointed 
"to  receive  the  oil  of  the  country"  for  the  town  of  Yarmouth,  Mass.1  At  the  same  time  it 
was  ordered  by  the  town  of  Sandwich,  Mass.,  "that  Edmund  Freeman,  Edward  Perry,  Geo. 
Allen,  Daniel  Wing,  John  Ellis,  and  Thos.  Tobey,  these  six  men,  shall  take  care  of  all  the  fish 
[including  whales  and  'grampuses']  that  Indians  shall  cut  up  within  the  limits  of  the  town, 
so  as  to  provide  safety  for  it,  and  shall  dispose  of  the  fish  for  the  town's  use;  also  that  if  any 
man  that  is  an  inhabitant  shall  find  a  whale  and  report  it  to  any  of  these  six  men,  he  shall 
have  a  double  share;  and  that  these  six  men  shall  take  care  to  provide  laborers  and  what- 
ever is  needful,  so  that  whatever  whales  either  Indian  or  white  man  gives  notice  of,  they  may 
dispose  of  the  proceeds  to  the  town's  use,  to  be  divided  equally  to  every  inhabitant."  Appar- 
ently it  was  not  long  before  a  misunderstanding  arose  as  to  the  legal  definition  of  the  phrase 
"every  inhabitant,"  for  in  the  following  year,  1653,  the  town  ruled  "that  the  pay  of  all  whales 
shall  belong  to  every  householder  and  to  every  young  man  that  is  his  own,  equally."  This 
method  of  sharing  the  proceeds  of  drift  whales  seems  to  have  met  with  small  favor,  or  per- 
chance certain  shrewd  citizens  thought  to  make  a  greater  personal  profit  from  such  occasional 
finds,  for  in  the  same  year,  September  13,  1653,  it  was  further  ordered  "that  Richard  Chad- 
well,  Thos.  Dexter,  and  John  Ellis,  these  three  men,  shall  have  all  the  whales  that  come  up 
within  the  limits  and  bounds  of  Sandwich,  they  paying  to  the  town  for  the  sd.  fish  £16  a  whale." 
It  was  also  "provided  that  if  any  of  these  three  men  have  notice  given  them  by  any  person 
who  has  seen  a  whale  ashore  or  aground  and  has  placed  an  oar  by  the  whale,  his  oath  may,  if 
required,  be  taken  for  the  truth  and  certainty  of  the  thing,  and  the  sd.  three  persons  shall 
be  held  liable  to  pay  for  the  sd.  whale  although  they  neglect  to  go  with  him  that  brings  the 
word.  And  if  they  do  not  go  with  him,  then  sd.  person  shall  hold  the  sd.  whale,  and  by  giving 
notice  to  any  third  shall  have  paid  him  for  his  care  herein  £1.  [The  whale  then  evidently  becomes 
town  property.]  And  in  case  there  come  ashore  any  part  of  a  whale,  these  four  men,  Mr.  Dil- 
lingham,  Mr.  Edmund  Freeman,  Edward  Perry,  and  Michael  Blackwell,  are  to  be  the  judges 
of  the  whale  before  it  shall  be  cut  off  from,  to  determine  the  quantity  less  a  whole  whale;  and 
then,  without  allowing  further  word,  those  three  men,  viz. :  Rd.  Chadwell,  Thos.  Dexter,  and 
John  Ellis,  shall  make  payment  for  sd.  whale,  5  in  oil,  5  in  corn,  and  I  in  cattle,  all  market- 

1  Swift,  C.  F.     History  of  Old  Yarmouth,  1884,  p.  84. 
-  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  50. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  149 

able,  at  current  prices."  '  It  is  clear  that  the  chief  purpose  of  these  regulations  was  to  insure 
that  the  town  received  a  certain  amount  from  the  proceeds  of  each  whale  or  part  thereof  for 
the  public  treasury.  The  aforementioned  John  Ellis  seems  to  have  had  a  great  liking  for 
this  whale  enterprise,  for  again  in  1659,  six  years  after,  he  is  appointed  together  with  one 
.lames  Skiff  "to  take  care  of  the  whales  and  all  other  fish  that  yield  oil  in  quantity,"  and  later, 
the  town  sold  to  him  "  the  right  of  all  such  fish  coming  within  the  limits  and  bounds  of  the 
town  the  next  three  years."  At  this  time,  too,  there  appears,  among  the  list  of  subscriptions 
for  building  a  new  meeting  house,  the  item:  "Rec.  also  in  Oil  £3.3.10,"  no  doubt  part  of  the 
proceeds  of  some  whale  killed  or  stranded  on  the  Sandwich  shore.2 

In  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  at  this  period,  it  was  apparently  the  law  that  one  third 
of  the  oil  of  drift  whales  became  the  property  of  the  Crown,  one  third  went  to  the  town,  and 
the  remainder  to  the  finders  of  the  whale.  This  is  evidenced  from  the  Court  records  of  May 
14,  1654,  wherein  it  appears  that  "an  account  concerning  a  whale  taken  at  Weimouth  being 
presented  to  this  Courte,  itt  is  referred  to  the  auditor  gennerall  to  pervse  the  accompt,  and 
examine  what  is  due  to  the  countrje,  all  charges  being  deducted,  and  orders  that  what  vppon 
examination  shallbe  found  due,  the  countrje  shall  haue  one  third  pte,  the  towne  of  Weimouth 
another  third  pte,  and  the  finders  the  other  third  pte."  3 

In  addition  to  these  regulations  for  determining  in  general  the  rights  of  persons  finding 
stranded  whales  on  the  shores,  it  soon  became  necessary  to  define  the  title  to  such  whales  as 
were  cast  up  on  the  bounds  of  private  homesteads.  So,  in  the  Court  Records  of  June  6,  1654, 
it  is  ordered  for  the  Plymouth  Colony,  "that  whatsoeuer  whales  or  blubber  shalbee  cast  vp 
against  the  lands  of  the  purchasers,  that  the  proprietie  thereof  shalbelonge  vnto  the  said  pur- 
chasers accordingly  as  vnto  any  of  the  pticulare  townshipps  when  such  whales  or  blubber 
fales  within  any  of  theire  precincts."  4  That  is,  apparently,  that  the  whale  was  considered 
the  property  of  the  land  owner,  who  nevertheless,  was  to  pay  one  third  of  the  oil  to  the  Crown. 

It  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  method  of  appointing  certain  persons  to  attend  to  the  saving 
of  the  oil  of  these  'drift'  whales  was  commonly  resorted  to  by  most  of  the  towns  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony  at  least.  As  in  the  case  of  the  citizens  of  Sandwich,  such  persons  paid  to  the  town 
a  certain  amount  for  the  local  monopoly  of  this  privilege.  This  arrangement,  however,  seems 
at  times  to  have  aroused  the  cupidity  of  the  less  fortunate  colonists,  for  in  the  Judicial  Acts 
of  the  Plymouth  Colony5  in  1662,  we  find  that  "Thomas  Howes,  Senr,  and  Robert  Denis, 
complaineth  in  the  behalfe  of  themselues  and  the  rest  of  theire  naighbours,  whoe  by  towne 
order  are  to  haue  theire  shares  of  the  whales  this  yeare,  wh  by  Gods  providence  are  or  shalbee 

1  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  51. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  62. 

3  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  1854,  vol.  -t,  pt.  2,  p.  191. 

'  Records  of  the  Colony  of  New  Plymouth  in  New  England,  1855,  vol.  3,  p.  53. 

5  Ibid,  1857,  vol.  7,  p.  106. 


150  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

cast  vp  within  theire  townshipes,  against  William  Nicarson,  Senir,  in  an  action  of  treaspas 
on  the  case,  to  the  damage  of  forty  pounds,  for  vnjust  molestation  in  vnjust  attachment  of 
the  blubber  of  a  whale  belonging  to  the  said  complainants.  The  jury  find  for  the  plaintiff es 
ten  pounds  damage,  and  the  cost  of  the  suite.  Judgment  graunted."  The  ground  for  William 
Nicarson's  trespass  does  not  appear,  but  it  is  likely  that  he  believed  the  whale  to  be  one  that 
he  had  previously  wounded,  and  so  was  loath  to  relinquish  title  to  it  when  "by  God's  provi- 
dence," it  drifted  ashore. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  doubted  that  most  of  these  'drift  fish'  had  first  been  harpooned,  so  that 
the  whalers  naturally  resented  the  claim  of  a  third  of  the  oil  by  the  Crown,  if  they  subsequently 
regained  the  lost  carcass.  This  exorbitant  tax  was  doubtless  the  cause  for  a  protest  before  the 
General  Court  of  March  4,  1661,  in  which  the  agents  for  the  town  of  Yarmouth  appeared  in 
behalf  of  their  own  town,  as  well  as  of  Barnstable,  Sandwich,  and  Eastham,  to  "debate  and 
determine  a  difference  between  them  and  others  about  whales."  It  appears  that  the  matter 
was  not  settled  at  that  time,  although  the  Court  endeavored  to  effect  some  sort  of  a  compro- 
mise. The  four  towns  stoutly  refused  to  pay  what  they  considered  an  unjust  tax,  so  that  six 
months  later,  on  October  1,  1661,  the  Colonial  Treasurer,  to  whom  the  Court  seems  finally 
to  have  entrusted  the  whole  affair,  sent  the  following  circular  letter  to  the  citizens  concerned : 

"Loueing  Frinds:  Whereas  the  Generall  Court  was  pleased  to  make  some  propositions  to 
you  respecting  the  drift  fish  or  whales;  and  incase  you  should  refuse  their  proffer,  they  im- 
powered  mee,  though  vnfitt,  to  farme  out  what  should  belonge  vnto  them  on  that  account; 
and  seeing  the  time  is  expired,  and  it  fales  into  my  hands  to  dispose  of,  I  doe  therefore,  with 
the  advise  of  the  Court,  in  answare  to  youer  remonstrance,  say,  that  if  you  will  duely  and  trewly 
pay  to  the  countrey  for  euery  whale  that  shall  come,  one  hogshead  of  oyle  att  Boston,  where 
I  shall  appoint,  and  that  current  and  marchantable,  without  any  charge  or  trouble  to  the 
countrey, —  I  say,  for  peace  and  quietnes,  you  shall  haue  it  for  this  present  season,  leaueing  you 
and  the  Election  Court  to  settle  it  soe  as  it  may  bee  to  satisfaction  on  both  sides;  and  incase 
you  accept  not  of  this  tender,  to  send  it  [i.  e.  their  refusal]  within  fourteen  days  after  date 
hereof;  and  if  I  heare  not  from  you,  I  shall  take  it  for  graunted  that  you  will  accept  of  it,  and 
shall  expect  the  accomplishment  of  the  same. 

"Youers  to  vse,  Constant  Southworth,  Treasu." 

The  record  shows  that  this  proposal  was  accepted  and  an  agreement  signed  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Yarmouth. 

In  this  same  year,  1661,  a  citizen  of  Eastham  was  fined  by  the  magistrate  one  pound 
sterling  for  "lying  about  a  whale"! 2 

The  agreement  just  recited  appears  to  have  met  with  approval  and  was  duly  enacted  as 

1  Records  of  the  Colony  of  New  Plymouth  in  New  England,  1855,  vol.  4,  p.  6. 

2  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  361. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  151 

a  law.  For  in  the  following  year,  under  date  of  June  3,  1662,  the  General  Court  of  Plymouth 
Colony  ordered  that  for  every  whale  cast  ashore,  or  cut  up  at  sea  and  brought  on  shore,  one 
full  hogshead  of  oil  was  to  be  paid  at  Boston  by  the  towns  or  persons  "as  are  Interested  in  the 
lands  where  they  fall  or  shall  soe  cutt  vp  any  ffish  at  sea."  If  the  "ffish "  were  torn  or  "wasted " 
so  that  one  fourth  of  it  were  gone,  then  only  one  half  a  hogshead  of  oil  was  to  be  paid,  and 
nothing  if  more  than  half  the  creature  were  lost.  Probably  it  was  to  determine  the  proportion 
of  oil  due  from  some  such  damaged  carcass,  that,  in  1672,  "in  reference  vnto  a  whale  brought 
on  shore  to  Yarmouth  from  sea,  the  Court  leaues  it  to  the  Treasurer  to  make  abatement  of 
what  is  due  to  the  countrey  therof,  by  law,  as  hee  shall  see  cause,  when  hee  treated  with  those 
that  brought  it  on  shore."  : 

Freeman2  mentions  an  old  Indian  deed  of  January  15,  1679,  confirmatory  of  the  early 
purchase  of  Woods  Hole,  which  stipulates  that  in  consideration  of  the  granting  of  certain  lands, 
the  Indian,  Job  Notantico,  is  to  have  "liberty  to  cut  sticks  and  wood  on  the  commons,  the  fins 
and  tails  of  whales  cast  ashore  on  the  neck"  at  Falmouth.  This  indicates  not  only  the  fre- 
quency with  which  whales  were  thus  cast  ashore,  but  perhaps  also  the  industry  of  the  people 
in  thoroughly  trying  out  the  entire  carcass,  leaving  only  "fins  and  tails  [  =  whalebone] "  for 
Poor  Lo.  Later,  at  all  events,  it  is  certain  that  the  carcass  was  usually  abandoned  after  the 
blubber  and  whalebone  were  removed. 

The  people  of  Cape  Cod  at  this  time  seem  to  have  been  carrying  on  their  operations 
with  much  vigor.  So  frequently  did  dead  whales  come  ashore  that  regulations  were  passed 
to  provide  at  once  for  then*  safe  disposal  so  that  the  country,  the  town,  and  other  parties  in- 
terested should  in  due  course  have  their  rightful  share  of  the  proceeds.  So  in  February,  1680, 
the  town  of  Yarmouth  portioned  out  its  shore  into  three  sections  and  to  each  allotted  four  or 
five  men  to  secure  such  whales  as  stranded  within  the  several  sections,  fixing  at  the  same  time 
the  remuneration  for  this  public  service.  The  record  runs:  "Agreed  with  our  neighbours  under- 
written in  their  several  bounds,  to  look  out  for  and  secure  the  town  all  such  whales  as  by  God's 
providence  shall  be  cast  up  in  their  several  bounds,  for  the  sum  of  £4  a  whale,  to  be  paid  in 
blubber  or  oil,  till  the  town  see  cause  to  alter  the  manner:  Paul  Sears,  Sam  Worden,  Silas 
Sears,  John  Burge,  Annanias  Wing,  from  Sawtucket  to  Sawsuit  Harbor  mouth.  Joseph  Howes, 
Sain  Howes,  John  Hall,  Jere.  Howes,  from  Sawsuit  to  Yarmouth' Harbor.  John  Rider,  John 
Hallet,  John  Hawes,  Capt.  Thacher,  from  Yarmouth  Harbor  to  the  Mill  Creek;  and  they  are 
to  have  £5  for  every  whale  that  is  cut  up  betwixt  Gray's  Beach  and  the  Mill  Creek,  as  afore- 
said." At  Sandwich,  in  1681,  we  find  a  committee  appointed  "to  make  sale  of  the  whales 
that  are  lately  cast  ashore  in  the  harbor;  and  it  was  agreed  that  Joseph  Holway  and  those 

1  Crapo,  W.  W.  Centennial  in  New  Bedford,  1876,  p.  66. 
1  Freeman,  F.  History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  427. 
3  Swift,  F.  C.  History  of  Old  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  1884,  p.  109. 


152  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

with  him  in  cutting-up  the  whales,  shall  have  that  part  they  have  already  cut  and  secured, 
on  paying  £6  silver  money  to  the  town."  J  This  implies  of  course,  that  the  regulation  was  still 
effective  making  drift  whales  the  town  property,  with  the  exception,  however,  of  the  barrel  of 
oil  from  each  whale  due  the  Colony.  In  the  following  year,  December  8,  1682,  it  was  ordered 
by  the  town,  "that  whales  that  come  ashore,  and  other  great  fish  that  yield  any  quantity  of  oil, 
be  given  to  Thomas  Tupper,  Geo.  Allen,  Caleb  Allen,  and  Sam'l  Briggs,  for  ten  years,  for  one 
half  the  oil  delivered  at  the  dock  in  good  casks  —  they  to  pay  a  barrel  of  oil  out  of  every  whale, 
to  the  country  according  to  the  order  bf  court"  (see  antea,  1662) ?  No  doubt  much  of  the 
oil  received  by  the  Crown  from  such  drift  whales  was  sent  to  England  for  home  consumption. 
At  all  events,  Treasurer  Samuel  Sewall's  accounts  (in  the  Sewall  papers  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society's  Collections)  show  that  in  1681  and  thereabouts,  he  was  regularly  sending 
whale  oil  by  packet  boat  to  London.  As  elsewhere  noted,  the  Nantucket  whalers  seem  not 
to  have  made  such  shipments  on  their  own  account  for  nearly  forty  years  after. 

The  Whale-viewer. —  Strife  as  to  the  rights  of  ownership  of  whales  seems  to  have  continued 
unabated,  so  that  in  March  of  1688,  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  established  the  following 
regulations,  quaintly  worded  and  misspelled:  "furst:  if  aney  pursons  shall  find  a  Dead  whael 
on  the  streem  And  have  the  opportunity  to  toss  herr  on  shoure;  then  ye  owners  to  alow  them 
twenty  shillings;  21y:  if  thay  cast  hur  out  &  secure  ye  blubber  &  bone  then  ye  owners  to  pay 
them  for  it  30s  (that  is  if  ye  whael  ware  lickly  to  be  loast;)  Sly,  if  it  proves  a  floate  son  not 
killed  by  men  then  ye  Admirall  to  Doe  thaire  in  as  he  shall  please;  —  41y;  that  no  persons 
shall  presume  to  cut  up  any  whael  till  she  be  vewed  by  toe  persons  not  consarned;  that  so  ye 
Right  owners  may  not  be  Rongged  of  such  whael  or  whaels;  Sly,  that  no  whael  shall  be  need- 
lessly or  fouellishly  lansed  behind  ye  vitall  to  avoid  stroy;  61y,  that  each  companys  harping 
Iron  &  lance  be  Distinckly  marked  on  ye  heads  &  socketts  with  a  poblick  mark :  to  ye  preven- 
tion of  strife;  71y,  that  if  a  whale  or  whalls  be  found  &  no  Iron  in  them:  then  they  that  lay  ye 
neerest  claime  to  them  by  thaire  strokes  &  ye  natoral  markes  to  haue  them;  Sly,  if  2  or  3 
companyes  lay  equal  claimes,  then  thay  equelly  to  shear."  3  By  these  regulations,  were  es- 
tablished legal  rates  for  salvage  of  'drift'  whales,  a  system  of  marking  harpoons  and  lances 
for  their  future  identification  by  the  rightful  owners  of  the  dead  whales,  and  the  appointment 
of  two  persons  to  act  in  some  measure  as  referees  in  all  cases  of  dispute. 

Two  years  later,  the  people  of  Cape  Cod  adopted  a  somewhat  similar  set  of  regulations, 
and  at  a  General  Court  of  the  Plymouth  Colony,  November  4,  1690,  we  find  it  "ordered,  that 
for  the  prevention  of  contests  and  suits  by  whale  killers,— 

"1.     This  Court  doth  order,  that  all  whales  killed  or  wounded  by  any  man  &  left  at  sea, 

1  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  1,  p.  73. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  75. 

3  Mass.  Colonial  MSS.,  Treasury,  vol.  3,  p.  80;  quoted  by  Starbuck,  Kept.  U.  S.  Comm.  Fish  and  Fisheries,  1878,  p.  8. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC'  RIGHT  WHALE.  153 

s'1  whale  killers  that  killed  or  wounded  sd  whale  shall  presently  repaire  to  some  prudent  person 
\vhoine  the  Court  shall  appoint,  and  there  give  in  the  wounds  of  sd  whale,  the  time  &  place 
when  &  where  killed  or  wounded;  and  sd  person  so  appointed  shall  presently  comitt  it  to 
record,  and  his  record  shall  be  allowed  good  testimony  in  law. 

"2.  That  all  whales  brought  or  cast  on  shore  shall  be  viewed  by  the  person  so  appointed, 
or  his  deputy,  before  they  are  cut  or  any  way  defaced  after  come  or  brought  on  shore,  and 
s'1  viewer  shall  take  a  particular  record  of  the  wounds  of  sd  whale,  &  time  &  place  when  & 
where  brought  on  shore;  &  his  record  shall  be  good  'testimony  in  law,  and  sd  viewer  shall 
take  care  for  securing  sd  fish  for  the  owner."  This  same  court  order  further  provides  that 
iy  person  finding  a  'drift'  whale  "on  the  stream,  a  mile  from  the  shore,  not  appearing  to 
killed  by  any  man,"  may  secure  it  to  his  own  use,  not  omitting,  however,  to  pay  "an  hogs- 
icad  of  oyle  to  yc  county  for  every  such  whale."  : 

Thus  was  established  the  office  of  Whale-viewer,  whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  all  whales 
iat  came  ashore  within  his  jurisdiction  and  to  record  not  only  the  marks  and  wounds  of  these, 
jut  those  as  well  of  whales  that  were  reported  harpooned  at  sea  and  escaped,  'according  as  the 
jursuers  gave  their  testimony.  By  this  means  it  was  hoped  to  identify  lost  whales,  should 
they  subsequently  die  of  their  wounds  and  be  cast  on  shore.  Such  whales  would  then  be  made 
>ver  to  their  rightful  owners,  if  satisfactory  proof  could  be  shown  through  the  record  of  marks 
and  wounds,  for  otherwise  they  became  the  spoil  of  the  finder  or  other  person  appointed  for 
their  disposal.  That  practically  all  the  '  drift '  whales  were  such  as  had  been  previously  wounded 
is  in  itself  eminently  probable,  and  is  further  shown  by  contemporary  evidence,  for  Weeden2 
tells  us  that  "as  early  as  1681,  Andros  reported  that  very  few  whales  were  driven  on  shore, 
unless  proved  to  have  been  struck  by  the  fishermen." 

Following  its  order  of  November  6,  1690,  the  General  Court  appointed  "to  view  and 
inspect  whales,"  Mr.  Skiff  of  Sandwich,  and  Captain  Lothrop  of  Barnstable.3  In  the  same  year, 
'John  Wadsworth  was  appointed  to  view  whales,  that  may  be  cast  ashore  in  the  town"  of 
hixbury.4 

It  is  plain  from  these  occasional  fragments,  that  many  whales  were  annually  killed  on 
the  Massachusetts  coast,  and  that  a  great  number  were  struck  and  lost,  only  to  die  of  their 
wounds  and  later  drift  to  land. 

The  reason  for  so  large  a  number  of  lost  whales  is  not  evident:  whether  through  insufficient 
trength  of  warp  and  iron,  or  through  lack  of  skill  on  the  part  of  the  many  men  employed, 
an  alternative  perhaps,  hardly  to  be  thought  of.     Perchance  it  may  have  been  that  the  harpoon 
line  was  not  always  managed  entirely  from  the  whale  boat,  but  was  fastened  to  drags  and  thrown 

1  Records  of  the  Colony  of  New  Plymouth,  1856,  vol.  6,  p.  252. 

J  Weeden,  W.  B.     Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England,  1890,  vol.  1,  p.  435. 

3  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  1,  p.  323. 

4  Winsor,  J.     History  of  Duxbury,  Mass.,  1849,  p.  86. 


154  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

overside  while  the  boat  was  held  in  readiness  for  a  chance  to  lance  the  whale  when  it  again 
came  to  the  surface.  There  is  little,  however,  to  support  this  view.  Probably  the  whales 
themselves  were  so  abundant  that  a  great  many  were  struck  and  it  was  often  deemed  better 
to  cut  loose  from  one  that  gave  promise  of  a  long  chase,  in  order  to  attack  others  near  at  hand 
that  perchance,  would  prove  easier  prey.  In  testimony  of  their  abundance,  Edward  Randolph, 
in  October,  1676,  tells  the  Lords  of  Trade  concerning  the  resources  of  the  colony  at  New 
Plymouth,  that  "here  is  made  a  good  quantity  of  whale  oil,  which  fish  they  take  upon  the 
coasts."  l  Again,  in  1688,  he  writes  home  from  Massachusetts:  "New  Plimouth  Colony  have 
great  profit  by  whale  killing.  I  believe  it  will  be  one  of  our  best  returnes,  now  beaver  and 
peltry  fayle  us"  (Hutchinson's  Coll.,  p.  588,  quoted  by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  8).  So,  too,  Cotton 
Mather,  writing  in  1697  of  the  colonists  at  Plymouth,  says:  "They  have  since  passed  on  to 
the  catching  of  whales,  whose  oil  is  become  a  staple  commodity  of  the  country;  —  whales,  I 
say,  which  living  and  moving  islands  do  find  way  to  this  coast,  where,  notwithstanding  the 
desperate  hazards  run  by  the  whale-catchers  in  their  whale  boats,—  often  torn  to  pieces  by 
the  strokes  of  the  enraged  monsters,  yet  it  has  rarely  been  known  that  any  of  them  have 
miscarried." 

Whaling  Accidents. —  Fatalities  did,  however,  occasionally  overtake  the  whalemen.  What 
was  evidently  an  accident  to  a  boat's  crew  of  Indians  in  the  pursuit  of  a  whale  off  the  Connecti- 
cut coasts,  is  thus  referred  to  by  Wait  Winthrop  of  Boston,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  Fitz-John 
at  New  London,  dated  29  Apl.,  1700:  "I  am  sorry  for  the  accident  about  the  two  Indians, 
who  I  suppose  to  be  lost  tho'  you  do  not  say  so,  and  tis  well  the  others  escaped.  If  there  should 
be  any  difference  about  the  pumme  [i.  e.  possession]  of  the  whale,  I  doubt  I  must  com  and  hold 
a  court  of  admiralty  about  it."  3 

In  the  diary  of  Rev.  Simon  Bradstreet,  of  New  London,  Conn.,  is  a  brief  mention  of  the 
death  of  one  Jonathan  Webbe  who,  in  October,  1668,  was  drowned  in  Boston  Harbor  while 
"catching  a  whale  below  the  Castle.  In  coiling  vp  ye  line  vnadvisedly  he  did  it  about  his 
middle  thinking  the  whale  to  bee  dead,  but  suddenly  shee  gave  a  Spring  and  drew  him  out 
of  the  boat,  he  being  in  ye  midst  of  the  line,  but  could  not  be  recovered  while  he  had  any  life." 
Probably  the  unfortunate  man  became  caught  in  the  harpoon  line,  though  it  is  unlikely  that 
he  "did  it  about  his  middle,"  for  the  diarist  adds  in  a  parenthesis:  "Mr.  Webb's  death,  as 
after  I  was  better  informed,  was  not  altogether  so  as  related." 

In  the  Boston  News-Letter  for  December  8, 1712,  is  an  item  from  Marshfield,  Mass.,  dated 
November  28:  "On  Tuesday,  the  25th  currant,  six  men  going  off  the  Gurnet  Beach  in  a  whale 
boat  at  Duxberry  after  a  whale,  by  reason  of  the  Boisterousness  of  the  sea,  oversetting  the  Boat, 

1  Crapo,  W.  W.     Centennial  in  New  Bedford,  1876,  p.  27. 

2  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  631,  footnote. 

3  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1892,  ser.  6,  vol.  5,  p.  61  (Winthrop  Papers). 

4  New  England  Hist,  and  Geneal.  Register,  1855,  vol.  9,  p.  44. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  155 

they  were  all  drowned."  '  Again,  in  1716,  we  learn  that  Mr.  Jonathan  Howes,  who  seems 
to  have  been  prominent  in  the  whaling  enterprise  at  Yarmouth,  "was  killed  by  a  whale  which 
he  attacked  in  a  boat." 

Starbuck  3  further  quotes  a  petition  to  the  General  Court,  on  file  at  the  Boston  State 
House  in  which  Dinah  Coffin,  of  Nantucket,  prays  to  be  allowed  to  marry  again,  inasmuch  as, 
two  years  before,  "her  Husband,  Elisha  Coffin  did  on  the  Twenty  Seventh  Day  of  April  Annoq 
Dom:  1722  Sail  from  sd  Island  of  Nantucket  in  a  sloop:  on  a  whaling  trip  intending  to  return 
in  a  month  or  six  weeks  at  most,  And  Instantly  a  hard  &  dismall  Storm  followed;  which  in  all 
probability  Swallowed  him  and  those  with  him  up:  for  they  were  never  heard  of."  The  Boston 
News-Letter  of  February  12,  1730  (quoted  by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  31)  contains  the  record  of  a 
similar  mishap  near  Chatham:  "There  has  been  a  remarkable  Providence  in  the  awful  death 
of  some  of  my  neighbors;  On  the  day  commonly  called  New  Year's  Day  a  whaleboat's  Crew 
(which  Consists  of  a  Stersman,  an  Harpineer,  and  Four  Oarmen)  coming  home  from  a  Place 
called  Hog's-Back,  where  they  had  been  on  a  Whaling  design,  the  Boat  was  overset,  and  all 
the  Men  lost,  on  a  reaf  of  Sand  that  lies  out  against  Billingsgate.  When  the  Boat  was  found 
bottom  upward,  and  the  Stern  post  broken  off,  there  were  two  Chests  found  in  it,  which  were 
wedged  so  fast  under  the  Thwards  that  the  water  had  not  washed  them  out;  in  which  were 
found  the  Pocket  books  of  two  of  the  Men,  by  which  it  plainly  appears  what  Boat  it  was;  but 
none  of  the  Bodies  are,  as  yet  found,  that  I  can  hear  of;  tho'  they  found  an  iron  Pot,  which  they 
had  with  them,  upon  the  reaf,  and  discovered  the  Whaling  Irons  at  the  bottom  of  the  Water, 
where  it  is  about  8  feet  deep. 

"P.  S. —  Before  I  had  done  writing  I  had  News  that  two  of  their  Bodies  were  found." 

Of  interest  further  in  showing  how  the  whale  fishery  at  Cape  Cod  offered  employment 
for  men  all  about  the  Bay,  is  a  brief  item  in  the  History  of  the  Town  of  Hingham,  Mass.  (1893, 
vol.  3,  p.  53),  concerning  John  Marble,  a  native  of  that  place,  who  died  in  April,  1738,  as  the 
record  says,  "suddenly  at  Cape  Cod  a  whaling,  leaving  three  small  children." 

An  anecdote  of  early  whaling,  with  less  serious  outcome,  is  told  by  Zaccheus  Macy  4  in 
his  account  of  Nantucket.  "It  happened  once,  when  there  were  about  thirty  boats  about  six 
miles  from  the  shore,  that  the  wind  came  round  to  the  northward,  and  blew  with  great  violence, 
attended  with  snow.  The. men  all  rowed  hard,  but  made  but  little  headway.  In  one  of  the 
boats  wore  four  Indians  and  two  white  men.  An  old  Indian  in  the  head  of  the  boat,  perceiving 
that  the  crew  began  to  be  disheartened,  spake  out  loud  in  his  own  tongue.  .  .  . 'Pull  ahead  with 
courage;  do  not  be  disheartened;  we  shall  not  be  lost  now;  there  are  too  many  Englishmen 

1  Quoted  in  J.  Winsor:   History  of  Duxbury,  Mass.,  1849,  p.  86. 

1  Swift,  F.  C.     History  of  Old  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  1884,  p.  136. 

1  Starbuck,  A.     Kept.  U.  S.  Comm.  Fish  and  Fisheries,  1878,  p.  23,  footnote. 

'Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1810,  ser.  1,  vol.  3,  p.  157. 


156  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

to  be  lost  now.'     His  speaking  in  this  manner  gave  the  crew  new  courage.     They  soon  per- 
ceived that  they  made  headway;  and  after  long  rowing  they  all  got  safe  on  shore." 

The  pursuit  of  whales  often  carried  the  shore-whalers  well  away  from  land  in  these  early 
days,  and  the  above  instance  no  doubt  reflects  what  was  of  frequent  occurrence.  Many  a 
long,  hard  pull  they  had  to  bring  them  back  to  land,  and  nightfall  often  caught  them  ere  they 
made  the  shore. 

Samuel  West1  refers  to  an  old  tradition  that  "it  was  common  to  see  a  light  upon  Gay 
Head  in  the  night  time.  Others  informed  me,  that  their  ancestors  have  told  them,  that  the 
whalemen  used  to  guide  themselves  in  the  night  by  the  lights  that  were  seen  upon  Gay  Head." 
These  lights  were  thought  to  be  of  supernatural  origin,  but  may  have  been  kindled  by  the 
Indians  encamped  there. 

Accidents  also  happened  at  times  to  whalemen  on  land.  Thus  in  the  Boston  News-Letter 
of  July  23,  1741,  it  is  related  that  a  Mr.  Nathaniel  Hardy,  of  Truro,  "an  elderly  Man  of  this 
Place,  being  at  one  of  the  Fry  Houses  boiling  of  Oil,  he  was  taken  with  a  fainting  Fit,  and  fell 
into  a  large  Vessell  of  boiling  hot  Oyl,  and  was  scalded  in  a  most  miserable  Manner." 

Ministers'  Salaries. —  The  pious  settlers  of  Plymouth  seem  to  have  been  not  unmindful 
of,  Heaven's  benefaction  in  supplying  them  so  "great  store"  of  whales,  for  in  June,  1662',  we 
find  that  "the  Court  proposeth  it  as  a  thing  they  Judge  would  bee  very  comendable  and  beni- 
ficiall  to  the  Townes  where  Gods  Providence  shall  cast  any  whales;  if  they  should  agree  to  sett 
apart  some  p[ar]te  of  euery  such  fish  or  oyle  for  the  Incurragement  of  an  able  Godly  Minnester 
amongst  them."  3  This  praiseworthy  suggestion  evidently  found  favor  among  some  at  least 
of  the  towns,  for  in  that  same  year,  1662,  the  town  of  Eastham  voted  that  a  part  of  every 
whale  cast  ashore  should  be  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the  ministry.4  A  number  of  years 
later,  we  find  it  recorded  that  in  1702,  the  town  of  Sandwich  gave  to  Rev.  Roland  Cotton 
"all  such  drift- whales  as  shall  during  the  time  of  his  ministry  in  Sandwich,  be  driven  or  cast 
ashore  within  the  limits  of  the  town,  being  such  as  shall  not  be  killed  with  hands."  5  The  same 
year  Rev.  John  Cotton  at  Yarmouth  received  " incurragement "  to  the  extent  "of  £40  in  money, 
of  the  product  of  the  whale  fishes  that  came  to  this  town  the  last  year, —  the  town  to  have 
the  balance."  6 

Strife  over  Drift  Whales. —  Despite  the  numerous  regulations  passed  for  the  prevention 
of  controversy,  the  strife  over  drift  whales  seems  to  have  continued  with  energy.  In  1693, 
the  town  of  Sandwich  was  "in  controversy  with  the  Sheriff  of  the  county,  'he  having  seized 

1  West,  Samuel.     A  Letter  concerning  Gay  Head.     Mem.  Amer.  Acad.  Arts  and  Sci.,  1793,  vol.  2,  p.  150. 

2  Quoted  by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  33. 

3  Records  of  the  Colony  of  New  Plymouth,  1861,  vol.  11,  p.  135. 

4  Pratt,  E.     History  of  Eastham,  Wellfleet,  and  Orleans,  1844,  p.  33. 
6  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  85. 

6  Ibid,  p.  206. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  157 

in  right  of  the  Crown  two  whales  on  shore  at  Town-Neck' "  '  This  evidence  of  friction  between 
the  zealous  officials  of  the  Crown,  and  the  local  whalers  is  further  seen  in  an  earnest  and  quaintly 
misspelled  communication  from  a  certain  William  Clapp,  who  made  complaint  to  Governor 
Paul  Dudley  at  Boston,  that  many  'drift'  whales  were  unlawfully  appropriated  by  the  whalers 
to  their  own  uses,  for  he  had  "very  often  every  year  sien  that  her  maiesty  has  been  very  much 
wronged  of  liar  dues  by  these  contry  peple  and  other  whall  men  as  corns  hear  a  whallen  every 
year  which  tacks  up  drift  whals  which  was  neuer  killed  by  any  man  which  fish  i  understand 
lielongest  to  har  magiesty  and  had  i  power  i  could  have  seased  severl  every  year."  It  does 
not  appear,  however,  that  the  irate  official  was  given  the  power  he  desired  to  seize  such  whales 
for  the  Crown.  Governor  Dudley,  nevertheless,  seems  to  have  taken  matters  into  his  own 
hands,  and  in  1705  retaliates  by  seizing  certain  whales  taken  by  boats,  "under  a  Pretence  of 
drift  fish."  He  refuses  to  try  the  questions  at  common  law  but  decides  the  matter  in  the 
Admiralty.3  Notwithstanding  these  frequent  records  of  controversy,  we  are  not  to  suppose 
thai  they  are  more  than  an  occasional  discordant  echo  of  an  important  and  flourishing  industry. 
Try-houses,  in  which  the  blubber  of  whales  killed  was  boiled,  and  the  oil  prepared,  seem 
to  have  been  set  up  in  many  of  the  towns.  A  small  tax  was  imposed  for  this  privilege,  and  in 
1701,  Constant  Freeman  and  Benjamin  Small  were  appointed  a  committee  on  behalf  of  the 

mn  of  Truro,  "to  look  after  such  persons  as  shall  set  up  whale-houses,  or  other  houses,  upon 
any  of  the  common  or  undivided  lands  belonging  to  Pamet,"  and  "to  agree  with  them. .  .  .for 
lot  less  than  Is.  per  man." 4 

As  early  as  1700,  an  attempt  was  made  to  utilize  the  carcasses  of  stranded  whales  after 
the  blubber  was  stripped.     For  in  this  year  certain  of  the  people  of  Eastham  and  thereabouts, 

Idressed  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  on  the  behalf  of  one  Thomas  Houghton,  of  Boston, 
>r  his  assigns,  that  for  the  space  of  ten  years,  he  be  allowed  the  exclusive  privilege  in  New 
Kngland  of  carrying  off  such  waste  and  putting  it  to  some  profitable  use.     This  petition  sets 
forth  that  "all  or  most  of  us  are  concerned  in  fitting  out  Boats  to  Catch  &  take  Whales  when 
ye  season  of  ye  year  Serves:  and  whereas  when  wee  have  taken  any  whale  or  whales,  our  Cus- 

>in  is  to  cutt  them  up,  and  to  take  away  ye  fatt  and  ye  Bone  of  such  Whales  as  are  brought 
in,  And  afterwards  to  let  ye  Rest  of  ye  Boddy  of  ye  Lean  of  whales  Lye  on  shoar  in  lowe  water 
to  be  washt  away  by  ye  sea,  being  of  noe  vallue  nor  worth  any  Thing  to  us";  wherefore  it  is 
ed  that  Houghton  apply  his  'discovery'  to  the  great  profit  of  the  people  concerned.  The 

'ouncil  in  granting  his  patent,  stipulates  "that  within  the  space  of  Four  years  he  shew  forth 
the  Satisfaction  of  the  Govern1  Council  &  Assembly  That  his  Projection  will  take  effect, 

1  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  82. 
*  Ibid.,  vol.  1,  p.  342,  footnote. 

3  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1879,  ser.  5,  vol.  6,  quoted  by  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England,  1890, 
vol.  1,  p.  436. 

4  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  543. 


158  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

for  the  rayseing  of  Salt  Petre  to  supply  the  province"! l     Nothing  more  seems  to  be  known  of 
this  interesting  'projection,'  and  it  is  doubtful  if  anything  came  of  it. 

Employment  of  Cape  Cod  Indians. —  So  important  was  the  whale  fishery  in  these  years 
that  it  probably  constituted  the  chief  employment  of  many  colonists  as  well  as  Indians  during 
the  winter  season,  from  November  till  May.  So  in  1724-25,  during  the  Indian  wars,  some  of 
the  friendly  Indians  from  Cape  Cod  were  enlisted,  but  with  the  express  understanding  that 
they  be  discharged  in  time  for  the  commencement  of  the  whaling  in  the  fall.  "Accordingly 
in  1724,  Lieutenant-Governor  Dummer,  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  writes  to  Colonel  West- 
brook;  'Upon  Sight  hereof  you  must  forthwith  dismiss  Cpt.  Bournes  Compy  of  Indians  &  send 
them  hither  in  one  of  the  Sloops,  That  so  they  may  lose  no  Time  for  Following  the  Whale  Fish- 
ery, wch  is  agreeable  to  my  Promise  made  to  them  at  enlisting.'  In  a  postscript  he  adds: 
'  Let  Capt.  Bourne  come  with  them  to  see  them  safe  return'd.'  And  again,  in  1725,  the  Secre- 
tary writes:  'His  Honr  Having  promised  the  Indians  enlisted  by  Cpt.  Bourne  (being  all  those 
of  the  County  of  Barnstable)  to  dismiss  them  in  the  Fall  that  so  they  attend  their  Whale  Fish- 
ing; directs  that  you  as  soon  as  you  have  opportunity  to  send  them  up  to  Boston,  in  Order  to 
their  Return  Home,  &  let  none  of  them  be  detained  on  any  Pretense  whatsoever.'"  It  is 
gratifying  to  find  at  least  this  slight  evidence  that  our  forefathers  occasionally  dealt  truly  with 
their  Indian  neighbors. 

Decline  of  the  Cape  Cod  Whaling. —  The  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century 
seems  to  have  marked  the  decline  of  shore  whaling  on  the  coast  of  New  England.  Relentless 
pursuit  for  nearly  a  century  had  finally  killed  or  driven  off  the  whales  that  frequented  our 
shores.  Thus,  in  the  Boston  News-Letter  of  March  20,  1727,  is  the  following  very  significant 
item:  "We  hear  from  the  Towns  on  the  Cape  that  the  Whale  Fishery  among  them  has  failed 
much  this  Winter,  as  it  has  done  for  several  Winters  past,  but  having  found  out  the  way  of 
going  to  Sea  Upon  that  Business,  and  having  had  much  Success  in  it,  they  are  now  fitting  out 
several  Vessels  to  sail  with  all  Expedition  upon  that  dangerous  Design  this  Spring,  more  (its 
tho't)  than  have  ever  been  sent  out  from  among  them  "  (quoted  by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  31). 

The  whalers,  as  always  with  seamen,  believed  that  the  whales  had  merely  moved  to  other 
grounds,  and  consequently  were  ready  to  follow  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  is 
probable  that  the  Right  Whales  of  the  western  North  Atlantic  were  so  very  greatly  reduced 
in  numbers  that  they  have  never  been  able  to  recover  their  former  abundance.  A  similar 
relentless  pursuit  had  nearly  exterminated  them  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  North  Atlantic. 

Of  the  decline  of  the  whale  fishery  on  our  coasts,  various  echoes  are  found  in  items  (quoted 
by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  32-34)  from  files  of  the  Boston  News-Letter  during  these  years.  Thus 
in  the  season  of  1737-8,  the  local  whalers  at  Provincetown  had  killed  up  to  January  5,  1738, 

• 

1  Mass.  Col.  MSS.,  Maritime,  vol.  4,  p.  72-73;  quoted  by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  30-31. 

2  Mass.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  2,  p.  297;  quoted  by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  31. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  159 

hut  two  small  whales.  By  February  of  the  same  year,  the  whalers  at  Yarmouth  had  taken 
hut  one  large  whale,  the  baleen  of  which  was  eight  or  nine  feet  long.  That  spring,  in  order 
to  make  up  for  this  loss,  a  dozen  vessels,  carrying  most  of  the  men  of  Provincetown  fitted  out 
for  the  fishery  in  Davis  Straits.  The  following  year  was  hardly  more  productive:  for  the 
entire  season's  catch  at  Cape  Cod  was  six  small  whales  and  one  large  one  at  Provincetown, 
and  two  small  ones  at  Sandwich.  As  a  result,  "many  of  the  people  of  Provincetown  were 

in  straitened  circumstances  and  much  distressed Many  of  them  were  without  money  or 

provisions." 

A  note  in  the  Boston  Post  Boy  of  February,  1739,  confirms  these  statements:  "We  have 
Ivice  from  Province-Town  on  Cape  Cod,  that  the  whaling  season  is  now  over  with  them, 
which  there  has  been  taken  in  that  Harbor  six  small  whales  and  one  of  a  larger  size  about 
foot  bone:  beside  which  'tis  said  two  small  whales  have  been  killed  at  Sandwich  which 
all  that  has  been  done  in  that  business  in  the  whole  Bay.  'Tis  added,  that  seven  or  eight 
families  in  Province-Town,  among  whom  are  the  principal  inhabitants,  design  to  remove.  .  .  . 
to  Casco  Bay  in  the  spring"  —  as  a  result,  we  may  infer,  of  the  failure  of  the  whale  fishery. 
That  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  whales  caught  at  this  time  were  small,  is  a  fact  of  much 
iterest.  and  probably  indicates  that  the  adults  had  been  nearly  extirpated,  for  the  largest 
vhales  are  ever  the  ones  most  keenly  sought.  The  destruction  of  the  adults  of  course  pre- 
vented a  normal  increase,  and  the  small  animals,  too,  were  hardly  allowed  to  reach  maturity. 
It  seems  likely  that  right-whaling  was  practically  abandoned  at  Cape  Cod  by  1750.  Doug- 
lass, in  1749,  wrote  of  whales,  that  "formerly  Cape  Cod  embayed  them,  but  being  much  dis- 
turbed. .  .  .they  kept  a  good  offing."  He  seems  to  have  accepted  the  notion  then  prevalent, 
lat  the  animals  had  simply  sought  other  waters.  He  speaks  also  of  a  whale,  stranded  back 
of  Cape  Cod,  that  yielded  134  barrels  of  oil  and  a  proportionate  weight  of  bone.  "This  whale 
was  so  fat  that  some  poor  people  tried  the  muscular  flesh,  and  made  30  bis.  of  oil."  On 
February  10,  1755,  at  Truro,  the  appearance  of  a  whale  in  the  bay  wras  sufficient  to  call  out  the 
greater  part  of  the  male  population,  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  adjourn  until  the  following 
day,  a  town  meeting  called  to  hear  and  act  on  the  reply  of  a  Rev.  Caleb  Upham,  called  to  that 
Parish.2  In  1757,  the  town  of  Eastham  "chose  a  committee  to  prosecute  the  Harwich  people 
for  carrying  on  the  whale  fishery  at  Billingsgate,"  3  so  that  it  is  clear  that  the  local  industry 
was  still  surviving  at  this  date.  But  since  there  is  certain  evidence  that  Humpback  Whales 
rere  then  pursued  in  those  waters,  it  is  unsafe  to  conjecture  how  far  the  Right  Whale  was 
icrcin  concerned.  It  further  appears  that  in  17C3  Billingsgate  was  incorporated  with  Wellfleet 
id  it  was  agreed  that  the  two  towns  should  equally  enjoy  the  privileges  of  whaling  and 

1  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  623. 

J  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  558. 

1  Pratt,  E.     History  of  Eastham,  Wellfleet,  and  Orleans,  1844,  p.  70. 


160 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


fishing  as  before.1  Of  the  whaling,  however,  there  was  little  left  to  'enjoy.'  The  Reverend  Mr. 
Mellen,  who  in  1794  wrote  a  Topographical  Description  of  the  Town  of  Barnstable,2  said  in 
retrospect,  that  "seventy  or  eighty  years  ago,  [i.  e.,  about  1714-1724]  the  whale  bay  fishery 
was  carried  on  in  boats  from  the  shore,  to  great  advantage :  This  business  employed  near  two 
hundred  men,  for  three  months  of  the  year,  in  the  fall  and  beginning  of  winter.  But  few 
whales  now  come  into  the  bay,  and  this  kind  of  fishery  has  for  a  long  time  (by  this  town  at 
least)  been  given  up."  Freeman,  likewise,  recalls  that  "the  shores  of  the  Cape  were,  within 
the  remembrance  of  persons  now  [1862]  living,  strewed  in  places  with  huge  bones  of  whales, 
these  remaining  unwasted  many  years.  Fifty  years  back  [about  1810],  rib-bones  set  for  posts 
in  fencing,  was  no  unusual  sight."  3 

In  1774,  ships  from  Nantucket  first  crossed  the  equator  in  pursuit  of  whales,  and  in  1791, 
the  first  American  whaler  rounded  Cape  Horn  into  the  untried  whaling  'grounds'  of  the  Pacific. 
The  pursuit  of  Right  Whales  on  the  New  England  coast  was  never  again  taken  jup  in  a  regular 
manner.  At  intervals  even  to  the  present  day,  an  occasional  solitary  specimen  or  even  a 
small  school  appears  off  the  shores  of  Nantucket  or  the  outer  portion  of  Cape  Cod,  and  not 
infrequently  have  the  fishermen  of  these  coasts  given  successful  pursuit  in  their  small  boats 
with  harpoon  or  bomb-lance.  But  such  occurrences  are  now  the  exception,  and  the  people  have 
long  since  passed  to  other  pursuits. 

Methods  of  whaling. —  While  at  first  whales  were  pursued  in  small  boats  from  the  shore, 
the  1662  citation  above  given  in  which  reference  is  made  to  the  cutting  up  of  whales  at  sea, 
implies  that  already  at  that  date  small  vessels  were  used  to  pursue  the  quarry  offshore  in  addi- 
tion to  the  whale  boats  kept  in  readiness  for  launching  from  the  beach.  Cutting  up  the  whale 
at  sea  in  calm  weather  was  probably  quite  as  easy  a  process  as  towing  the  great  carcass  to  land. 
For  the  Right  Whale  nearly  always  floats  when  dead,  and  with  block  and  tackle  the  stripping 
off  of  the  sheets  of  blubber  must  have  been  comparatively  easy.  Then  too  the  great  body  could 
more  readily  be  rolled  over  as  it  floated  in  the  water.  The  shore  whaling  was  thus  supple- 
mented by  the  use  of  sailing  vessels  of  small  burthen.  The  method  of  stationing  watchers 
along  the  coast  during  the  whaling  season,  to  give  notice  to  the  boat-whalers  was  much 
employed  on  Cape  Cod.  Thus  at  Yarmouth,  from  the  earliest  period  of  its  history,  "a  tract 
of  land  has  been  reserved  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants,  and  known  as  the  Whaling  Grounds. 
It  is  situated  in  the  northwesterly  part  of  the  town  of  Dennis,  and  is  still  [1884]  held  in  common 
by  the  two  towns.  There  is  no  record  of  the  laying  out  of  these  lands,  but  by  the  references 
made  to  them  in  various  documents,  it  appears  that  they  were  undoubtedly  laid  out  by  the 
early  proprietors  of  the  town,  for  a  look-out  for  those  watching  for  whales.  In  1713,  the 

1  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  361. 

2  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1794,  ser.  1,  vol.  3,  p.  12-17. 

3  Freeman,  F.     History  of  Cape  Cod,  1862,  vol.  2,  p.  623. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  161 

proprietors  enlarged  the  reservation  by  adding  about  two  acres  at  the  West  end,  doubtless  that 
the  whalemen  might  have  a  convenient  place  to  fill  water.  Upon  this  reservation  a  house  or 
houses  were  erected,  in  which  the  whalemen  lived,  and  a  watch  was  kept  up  to  notify  the  crews 
when  the  whales  appeared. .  .  .The  boats  were  sometimes  manned  by  the  native  Indians,  who 
\\eie  remarkably  well  adapted  for  the  business.  Mr.  Jonathan  Howes,  a  grandson  of  the  first 
Thomas,  derived  sufficient  profit  in  one  fortunate  season's  whaling,  with  a  company  of  these 
Indians,  to  pay  for  a  large  two-story  house  which  he  built,  and  which  was  standing"  till  about 
istii.' 

According  to  Justin  Winsor,2  "schooners,  sloops  and  perhaps  larger  vessels  were  engaged 
M  the  whale  fishery  from  Duxbury  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  last  [i.  e.,  eighteenth]  century, 
and  for  some  years  quite  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  were  thus  employed.  Their  resort  was 
at  first  along  the  shore  and  between  the  capes  [Cape  Ann  and  Cape  Cod];  but  by  the  close  of 
the  first  quarter  of  the  century  they  had  extended  their  grounds"  even  to  the  coast  of  Newfound- 
land and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  where  they  probably  found  also  the  Arctic  Bowhead. 
\Yinsor  further  mentions  an  old  account  book  of  Mr.  Joshua  Soule  of  Duxbury,  with  the  memo- 
randum: "Whale  vieg  [voyage]  begun,  elisha  cob  sayled  from  hear  March  yc  4,  from  Ply- 
mouth y°  7,  1729."  The  extent  of  this  cruise  may  well  have  been  outside  of  New  England 
\\aters,  but  apparently  was  begun  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  at  the  time  when  Right  Whales 
were  on  the  coast. 

In  1725,  Paul  Dudley  of  Boston,  communicated  to  the  Royal  Society  an  account  of  the 
•hales  of  New  England  with  notes  on  their  habits  and  capture.  This  was  published  in  the 
ilosophical  Transactions  of  that  year.  He  says  (I  quote  the  1734  Abridgment):  "I  would 
.ke  notice  of  the  Boats  oure  Whale-men  use  in  going  from  the  Shoar  after  the  Whale,  They 
are  made  of  Cedar  Clapboards,  and  so  very  light,  that  two  Men  can  conveniently  carry  them, 
and  yet  they  are  twenty  Feet  long,  and  carry  six  Men,  viz.  the  Harponeer  in  the  Fore-part  of 
the  Boat,  four  Oar-men,  and  the  Steersman.  These  Boats  run  very  swift,  and  by  reason  of 
their  Lightness  can  be  brought  on  and  off,  and  so  kept  out  of  Danger.  The  Whale  is  some- 
times killed  with  a  single  Stroke,  and  yet  at  other  Times  she  will  hold  the  Whale-men  in  Play, 

half  a  Day  together,  with  their  Lances,  and  sometimes  will  get  away  after  they  have  been 
lanced  and  spouted  Blood,  with  Irons  in  them,  and  Drugs  fastened  to  them,  which  are  thick 
Hoards  about  fourteen  Inches  square.  Our  People  formerly  used  to  kill  the  Whale  near  the 
Shore;  but  now  they  go  off  to  sea  in  Sloops  and  Whale  boats."  3  It  is  evident  that  the  small 

Is  employed  for  taking  whales  at  sea,  simply  stripped  the  blubber  and  whalebone  and  cast 
the  body  adrift,  for  this  same  writer  remarks:  "The  Carcases  of  Whales  in  the  Sea,  serve  for 

1  Swift,  F.  C.     History  of  Old  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  1884,  p.  113. 

''  Winsor,  J.     History  of  Duxbury,  Mass.,  1849,  p.  350. 

3  Dudley,  P.     Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  London,  Abridged,  1734,  vol.  7,  pt.  3,  p.  427. 


162 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Food  for  Gulls,  and  other  Sea-Fowl,  as  well  as  Sharks,  for  they  are  not  very  nice."  The  use 
of  "Drugs"  or  drags  made  of  heavy  plank  and  attached  so  as  to  be  pulled  broadside  through 
the  water,  must  have  materially  aided  in  tiring  out  the  whale  so  as  to  allow  of  approaching 
near  enough  to  lance.  William  Douglass,  in  his  Summary,  Historical  and  Political, ....  of 
the  British  Settlements  in  North  America  (London,  1760,  vol.  1,  p.  296-298)  further  describes 
this  "drudge  or  stop-water"  as  a  "plank  of  about  two  feet  square,  with  a  stick  through  its 
center;  to  the  further  end  of  this  stick,  is  fastened  a  tow-rope,  called  the  drudge  rope,  of  about 
fifteen  fathom;  they  lance,  after  having  fastened  her  by  the  harpoon,  till  dead." 

For  the  harpoon  line,  hempen  cord  was  used.  This  line  or  "fast,"  according  to  Douglass, 
"is  a  rope  of  about  twenty-five  fathom."  In  the  Boston  News-Letter  of  December  5,  1723, 
Mr.  Peter  Butler  advertises  for  sale,  at  that  place,  "lately  imported  from  London,  extraordi- 
nary good  Whale  Warps  at  16d  a  Pound,  which  are  made  of  the  finest  Hemp,  either  by  the 
Quoile  or  less  Quantity"  (Starbuck,  1878,  p.  34). 

Early  Whaling  at  Cape  Ann. —  To  the  historian  J.  B.  Felt,  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  what 
fragmentary  references  there  are  as  to  the  early  whaling  industry  at  Cape  Ann,  Massachusetts, 
and  the  adjacent  waters.  He  mentions 2  in  his  History  of  Salem,  that  James  Loper  of  that 
town,  in  1688,  petitioned  the  colonial  government  of  Massachusetts  for  a  patent  for  making 
oil.  In  his  petition  Loper  sets  forth  that  he  has  been  engaged  in  whale-fishing  for  twenty- 
two  years,  but  whether  from  Salem  or  elsewhere  does  not  appear.  Starbuck,  who  quotes  this 
incident,  is  at  some  pains  to  show  that  this  is  probably  not  the  James  Lopar  of  Long  Island 
whom  the  people  of  Nantucket,  in  1672,  invited  to  undertake  "a  design  of  Whale  Citching" 
from  their  shores. 

As  elsewhere  mentioned,  whaling  was  carried  on  in  Massachusetts  Bay  with  the  aid  of 
small  sailing  vessels,  at  least  as  early  as  1662,  and  it  seems  certain  that  these  vessels  pursued 
Right  Whales  in  the  waters  off  Cape  Ann,  and  southward.  For  John  Josselyn,3  writing  in 
1675,  describes  the  Ipswich  River,  how  it  "issueth  forth  into  a  large  Bay,  (where  they  fish  for 
Whales)  due  East  over  against  the  Islands  of  Sholes." 

Somewhat  later,  it  appears  that  vessels  cruised  from  Salem  to  Cape  Cod  after  these  whales, 
for  on  March  12,  1692,  John  Higginson  and  Timothy  Lindall,  of  Salem,  wrote  to  Nathaniel 
Thomas:  "We  have  been  jointly  concerned  in  severall  whale  voyages  at  Cape  Cod,  and  have 
sustained  greate  wrong  and  injury  by  the  unjust  dealing  of  the  inhabitants  of  those  parts, 
especially  in  two  instances:  ye  first  was  when  Woodbury  and  company,  in  our  boates,  in  the 
winter  of  1690,  killed  a  large  whale  in  Cape  Cod  harbour.  She  sank  and  after  rose,  went  to 
sea  with  a  harpoon,  warp,  etc.  of  ours,  which  have  been  in  the  hands  of  Nicholas  Eldredge. 

1  Dudley,  P.     Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  London,  Abridged,  1734,  vol.  7,  pt.  3,  p.  429. 

2  Felt,  J.  B.     History  of  Salem,  1845,  vol.  2,  p.  224. 

3  Josselyn,  J.     Two  Voyages  to  New  England,  1675,  reprinted  in  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1833,  ser.  3,  vol.  3,  p.  323. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  163 

The  second  case  is  this  last  winter,  1691.  William  Edds  and  company,  in  one  of  our  boates, 
struck  a  whale,  which  came  ashore  dead,  and  by  ye  evidence  of  the  people  of  Cape  Cod  was 
the  very  whale  they  killed.  The  whale  was  taken  away  by  Thomas  Smith  of  Eastham,  and 
unjustly  detained."  Thus  it  seems  that  the  people  of  Cape  Cod  rather  resented  this  intru- 
sion of  outsiders  into  their  home  waters.  In  1700,  John  Higginson  again  writes:  "We  have 
a  considerable  quantitie  of  whale  oil  and  bone  for  exportation."  1 

Again,  under  date  of  December  10,  1706,  the  same  John  Higginson  of  Salem,  writes  to 
Symond  Epes  of  Ipswich:  "I  hear  a  rumor  of  several  whales,  that  are  gotten.  I  desire  you  to 
send  me  word  how  much  we  are  concerned  in  them,  and  what  prospect  of  a  voyage.  When 
they  have  done,  I  desire  you  would  take  care  to  secure  the  boats  and  utensils  belonging  to 
them."  Apparently  the  reference  is  to  Right  Whales  killed  from  boats  off  the  coast  of  Ip- 
swich, and  since  the  whaling  season  is  then  just  beginning,  Mr.  Higginson,  who  appears  to  be 
bucking  the  undertaking,  is  anxious  that  a  vessel  should  be  fitted  out  for  a  cruise  in  the  nearer 
waters.  Hence  the  necessity  for  securing  what  "boats  and  utensils"  there  may  be  available. 
In  the  following  year,  September  22,  1707,  Mr.  Higginson  again  writes  about  whale-boats 
and  crews  at  Ipswich,  and  remarks,  "We  should  be  in  readiness  for  the  noble  sport."  2  As  the 
whaling  season  was  then  less  than  two  months  off,  Mr.  Higginson's  foresight  is  well 
exemplified. 

Probably  "Whale  Cove"  at  Rockport  owes  its  name  to  some  incident  connected  with  the 
capture  of  the  Right  Whale  there  in  the  early  days. 

Whales  occasionally  came  even  into  Boston  Harbor  in  Colonial  times,  and  Starbuck  makes 
mention  of  certain  whaling  gear  that  apparently  was  kept  in  readiness  against  the  appearance 
of  these  animals.  In  October,  1668,  Jonathan  Webb,  was  drowned  while  capturing  a  whale 
"below  the  Castle"  [i.  e.  Castle  Id.],3  in  Boston  Bay,  and  the  Boston  newspapers  of  Decem- 
ber 12,  1707,  describe  the  pursuit  and  capture  of  a  whale  forty  feet  long  in  the  harbor,  near 
the  back  of  Noddle's  Island.4 

Whaling  at  Nantucket  and  Martha's  Vineyard. —  At  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Nan- 
tucket  and  for  many  years  thereafter  Right  Whales  seem  to  have  been  common  during  their 
northward  and  southward  passages  in  the  neighboring  seas.  At  first  no  attempt  seems  to 
have  been  made  to  capture  them,  but  those  that  drifted  ashore  were  eagerly  seized  and  utilized. 
In  the  middle  of  the  17th  century  the  Cape  Cod  colonists  had  actively  undertaken  their  pur- 
suit, so  that  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  number  of  'drift  whales'  that  fell  to  the  share  of  the 
Nantucketers  at  this  time,  was  partly  an  indirect  result  of  their  neighbors'  efforts.  For  many 
were  probably  whales  that  had  been  struck  and  lost.  The  inevitable  quarrels  over  the  owner- 

1  Felt,  J.  B.     History  of  Salem,  1845,  vol.  2,  pp.  224,  225. 

1  Felt,  J.  B.     History  of  Ipswich,  Essex  and  Hamilton,  1834,  p.  109. 

3  New  England  Hist,  and  Geneal.  Register,  1855,  vol.  9,  p.  44. 

4  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  34. 


164  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

ship  and  partition  of  these  valuable  prizes  soon  made  it  necessary  to  enact  laws  for  the  pre- 
vention of  such  disputes.  The  Indians,  who  seem  to  have  been  well  treated  by  the  Nantucket 
colonists,  cooperated  with  them  in  their  efforts  to  discover  and  utilize  'drift'  whales.  The 
records  have  it  that  in  1668,  the  English  of  Nantucket  made  "a  bargaine  with  ye  Indians 
concerning  all  whales"  that  should  drift  to  the  shores  of  the  island.  Subsequently  the  shores 
were  divided  into  sections,  over  which  Indian  sachems  were  appointed  to  oversee  the  cutting 
up  of  stranded  whales  and  to  divide  the  shares.  That  this  method  did  not  always  give  satis- 
faction to  the  rival  claimants  appears  from  the  record  of  appeals  to  the  island  Courts.  So  we 
find  in  one  case,  "the  Court  do  order  that  the  Rack  or  drift  Whale  in  the  bounds  of  the  bech 
upon  the  playnes  shall  be  divided  into  eight  shares,"  and  that  "no  Rack  Whale  that  com  ashore 
in  any  sachems  bounds  shall  be  cut  up  until  all  the  masters  of  the  shares  that  belong  to  that 
Whale  do  com  together"  implying  that  even  the  sachems  were  not  beyond  temptation.  Some- 
times the  Court  went  into  particulars,1  as  when  it  ordered  "that  Washaman  is  to  have  the 
head  of  the  drift  Whale  for  his  share  and  Desper  is  to  have  halfe  along  with  him."  Again, 
a  jury  of  six  men  tried  a  complaint  of  the  Indian  "Massaquat  against  Eleaser  Foulger  for 
stealing  his  Whale."  The  defendant  confessed  that  he  "did  dispose  of  the  Whale  in  con- 
troversie,"  and  the  Court  sentenced  him  "to  pay  for  the  Whale  the  summe  of  four  pounds 
in  goods  at  the  usual  price  of  trading."  No  doubt  the  Court  in  its  decisions  between  Indians 
and  Englishmen,  may  have  been  somewhat  over  lenient  towards  the  latter,  but  one  is  hardly 
prepared  to  find  that  a  Nantucket  Indian,  for  stealing  eighteen  slabs  of  whalebone,  was  con- 
demned to  serve  Thomas  Macy  for  seven  years ! 2 

At  about  1672  Nantucket  undertook  its  first  whaling  enterprise.  According  to  Macy, 
the  local  tradition  had  it  that  a  Right  Whale  of  the  sort  called  'scrag'  (i.  e.  runt),  came  into 
the  harbor  and  continued  there  three  days.  This  proved  too  much  for  the  hunting  instinct  of 
the  settlers,  who  wrought  a  harpoon  and  with  it  succeeded  in  killing  the  whale.  Whales  appear 
to  have  then  been  common  at  certain  seasons,  especially  off  the  seaward  side  of  the  island. 
The  Nantucketers  very  wisely  decided  to  call  to  their  aid  one  James  Lopar  of  Long  Island, 
who  was  granted  certain  privileges  in  return  for  his  undertaking  to  manage  a  whaling  indus- 
try. The  original  agreement  is  given  verbatim  by  Macy 3  as  follows : 

"5th  4th  mo.  1672  James  Lopar  doth  Ingage  to  carry  on  a  design  of  Whale  Citching  on 
the  Island  of  Nantucket,  that  is  the  said  James  Ingage  to  be  a  third  in  all  respeekes,  and  som 
of  the  Town  Ingage  Also  to  Carrey  on  the  other  two  thirds  with  him  in  like  manner,  the  Town 
doth  also  Consent,  that  first  one  Company  shal  begin  and  afterward  the  rest  of  the  freeholders 
or  any  of  them,  have  liberty  to  set  up  an  other  Company  Provided  that  they  make  a  tender 

1  Bliss,  W.  R.     Quaint  Nantucket,  1896,  pp.  11,  12. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  70. 

3  Macy,  O.     History  of  Nantucket,  1835,  p.  28. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  165 

to  those  freeholders  that  have  no  share  in  the  first  Company  and  if  any  refuse,  the  Rest  may  go 
on  themselves,  and  the  Town  do  also  Ingage  that  no  other  Company  shal  be  allowed  hereafter, 
Also  whosoever  Kil  any  whale  of  the  Company  or  Companys  aforesaid  they  ar  to  pay  to  the 
Town  for  every  such  Whale  five  Shillings  —  and  for  the  Incorragement  of  the  said  James  Lopar 
tlic  Town  doth  grant  him  Ten  Acres  of  Land  in  som  convenant  place,  that  he  may  Chuse  in, 
(Wood  Land  exccped)  and  also  Liberty  for  the  Commonge.  of  thre  Cows  and  twenty  Sheep  and 
one  horse  with  necessary  Wood  and  water  for  his  use  on  Conditions  that  he  follow  the  Trade 
of  \\  haloing  on  the  Island  two  years  in  all  the  season  thereof,  beginning  the  first  of  March 
next  insuing.  Also  is  to  build  upon  his  land,  and  when  he  leaves  Inhabiting  upon  the  Island 
then  he  is  first  to  ofer  his  Land  to  the  Town  at  a  Valluable  price,  and  if  the  Town  do  not 
I  my  it  —  then  he  may  Sel  it  to  whome  he  please  —  the  commonage  is  granted  only  for  the 
time  he  stays  here."  This  James  Lopar  is  thought  by  Starbuck  (1878,  p.  16)  to  be  with  little 
doubt  the  same  person  that  he  mentions  as  engaged  in  whaling  on  the  Long  Island  shores  at 
this  time.  There  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  Lopar  did  actually  avail  himself  of  the  proposi- 
tion thus  made  to  him,  although  a  cooper  named  John  Savidge,  who  was  offered  a  similar 
concession,  apparently  did  come  to  "follow  his  trade  of  cooper  upon  the  island  as  the  town  or 
whale  Company  have  need  to  employ  him."  It  was  nearly  twenty  years  later,  in  1690,  that  the 
people  of  Nantucket  employed  Ichabod  Paddock  to  come  from  Yarmouth,  and  instruct  them 
in  killing  whales  and  trying  out  the  oil.  It  was  in  this  same  year,  according  to  a  cherished 
local  tradition,  that  one  of  a  company  of  persons  who  were  watching  the  whales  from  the  top 
of  the  present  Folly  House  Hill,  pointed  to  the  sea  and  observed  with  prophetic  vision,  "There 
is  a  ^reen  pasture  where  our  children's  grandchildren  will  go  for  bread." 

It  appears  that  at  first  the  whaling  operations  were,  as  elsewhere,  carried  on  in  boats  from 
ttio  shore,  and  that  occasionally,  in  pleasant  weather  during  the  winter  season,  the  whalers 
ventured  off  nearly  out  of  sight  of  land.  A  description  of  this  is  given  by  J.  Hector  St.  John 
Crtvecoeur  who,  in  1782,  published  at  London  some  "Letters  from  an  American  Farmer." 
He  tells  us  that  after  the  beginning  of  the  shore  fishery  at  Nantucket,  "the  south  sides  of  the 
island  from  east  to  west,  were  divided  into  four  equal  parts,  and  each  part  was  assigned  to  a 
company  of  six,  which  though  thus  separated,  still  carried  on  their  business  in  common.  In 
the  middle  of  this  distance,  they  erected  a  mast,  provided  with  a  sufficient  number  of  rounds, 
and  near  it  they  built  a  temporary  hut,  where  five  of  the  associates  lived,  whilst  the  sixth  from 
his  high  station  carefully  looked  toward  the  sea,  in  order  to  observe  the  spouting  of  the  whales. 
A-  M)on  as  any  were  discovered,  the  sentinel  descended,  the  whale-boat  was  launched,  and  the 
company  went  forth  in  quest  of  their  game."  !  The  same  writer  further  says  that  the  Right 
Whale  was  common  and  was  known  to  the  Nantucketers  as  the  'seven-foot-bone'  from  the 
length  of  its  longest  plates  of  baleen.  Its  numbers,  however,  must  have  speedily  declined, 

'  St.  John  Crevecoeur,  J.  Hector.     Letters  from  an  American  Farmer.     London,  1782;  reprint,  1904,  see  p.  159. 


166 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


and  the  whalers  at  the  same  period  were  yearly  voyaging  to  greater  distances  from  home. 
Indeed,  Starbuck  tells  us  that  already  by  1732,  New  Englanders  were  whaling  in  Davis  Straits. 

In  1720,  the  people  of  Nantucket  ventured  to  send  a  small  shipment  of  oil  to  London,  and 
this  was  soon  followed  by  more,  so  that  ere  long  commenced  an  important  traffic.  The  original 
bill  of  lading  of  this  first  shipment  dated  at  Boston,  the  7th  of  April,  1720,  is  quoted  by  Star- 
buck  (1878,  p.  20):- 

"  Shipped  by  the  grace  of  God,  in  good  order  and  well  conditioned,  by  Paul  Starbuck, 
in  the  good  ship  called  the  Hanover,  whereof  is  master  under  God  for  the  present  voyage,  William 
Chadder  and  now  riding  in  the  harbour  of  Boston,  and  by  God's  grace  bound  for  London;  to 
say:  —  six  barrels  of  traine  oyle,  being  on  the  proper  account  &  risque  of  Nathaniel  Starbuck, 
of  Nantucket,  and  goes  consigned  to  Richard  Partridge  merchant  in  London.  Being  marked 
&  numbered  as  in  the  margin  &  to  be  delivered  in  like  good  order  &  well  conditioned  at  the 
aforesaid  port  of  London  (The  dangers  of  the  sea  only  excepted)  unto  Richard  Partridge  afore- 
said or  to  his  assignees,  He  or  they  paying  Freight  for  said  goods,  at  the  rate  of  fifty  shillings 
per  tonn,  with  primage  &  average  accustomed. 

"In  witness  whereof  the  said  Master  or  Purser  of  said  Ship  hath  affirmed  to  two  Bills  of 
Lading  all  of  this  Tener  and  date,  one  of  which  two  Bills  being  Accomplished,  the  other  to 
stand  void. 

"And  so  God  send  the  Good  Ship  to  her  desired  Port  in  safety,  Amen! 

"Articles  &  contents  unknown  to  — 

(Signed)  William  Chadder." 

The  Nantucket  Indians  who  from  the  first  had  been  treated  with  consideration,  were 
largely  employed  in  this  early  whaling.  Macy l  tells  us  that  nearly  every  boat  was  manned 
in  part,  many  almost  entirely,  by  them,  so  that,  as  at  Cape  Cod,  they  soon  became  experienced 
whalemen.  After  killing  the  whale,  they  towed  it  ashore,  for  the  Right  Whale  usually  floats 
when  dead,  and  the  blubber  was  then  stripped  off  by  the  aid  of  a  sort  of  windlass  called  a 
'crab.'  The  blubber  was  carried  in  carts  to  the  try  houses  which  then  were  near  the  dwellings 
of  the  settlers.  Of  the  numbers  of  whales  taken  in  the  Nantucket  waters  in  these  years  almost 
nothing  is  recorded.  Macy  says  that  the  greatest  number  ever  killed  and  brought  to  shore  in 
a  single  day  was  eleven,  and  the  greatest  number  killed  in  any  year  was  in  1726  when  no  less 
than  eighty-six  were  captured.  These  figures  will  serve  to  indicate  the  abundance  of  Right 
Whales  on  the  coast  in  those  times. 

In  addition  to  boat  whaling  from  the  shore  stations,  it  is  certain  that  at  an  early  date, 
larger  vessels  were  sent  out  to  pursue  the  Right  Whale  in  the  offshore  waters  at  no  great  distance 
from  port.  It  was  one  of  these  vessels,  that  about  1712,  while  cruising  for  Right  Whales  near 
shore,  was  blown  by  a  strong  northerly  wind  some  distance  from  land.  A  school  of  Sperm 

1  Macy,  O.     History  of  Nantucket,  1835,  p.  30. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  167 

Whales  was  discovered  and  the  crew  succeeded  in  killing  one  and  bringing  it  back  to  the  island. 
Following  the  example  thus  set,  a  number  of.  vessels  were  shortly  fitted  out  and  sent  on  cruises 
of  six  weeks  or  so,  and  these  on  capturing  whales,  returned  at  once  with  the  blubber,  for  trying 
out.  These  vessels  usually  carried  two  boats,  one  of  which  was  held  in  reserve  while  the  other 
was  sent  to  attack  the  whale.  To  facilitate  the  landing  of  the  spoil  and  the  rendering  of  the 
oil,  try-houses  were  erected  near  the  landing,  so  that  the  vessel  might  at  once  discharge  her 
cargo  and  return  to  the  chase.  Gradually,  as  the  Right  Whales  diminished  in  the  vicinity 
of  Xantucket,  the  vessels  went  farther  and  farther  afield.  About  1760,  says  Nantucket's 
historian,  their  numbers  had  so  greatly  decreased,  that  their  pursuit  in  the  home  waters  was 
gradually  abandoned.  With  the  increasing  development  of  the  sperm  whaling  came  the  fitting 
out  of  larger  vessels  for  the  uncharted  seas  of  distant  parts  of  the  world.  During  the  last  cen- 
tury, the  records  as  elsewhere  detailed,  still  show  the  occasional  occurrence  of  Right  Whales 
off  the  coast  of  Nantucket  but  for  many  years  no  special  effort  was  made  to  capture  these  stray 
individuals.  In  1886,  however,  the  appearance  of  several  Right  Whales  near  at  hand,  roused 
again  the  whaling  blood  of  the  islanders,  boats  and  harpoons  were  hastily  prepared  and  three 
or  four  whales  were  eventually  killed.  Since  then  as  I  am  told  by  one  of  the  townspeople,  a 
boat  is  kept  in  readiness  at  Tuckernuck  and  on  Nantucket,  should  a  Right  Whale  appear,  but 
years  may  now  pass  without  ever  a  spout  to  call  forth  the  hunters. 

Martha's  Vineyard. —  In  the  Vinyard  Gazette  (quoted  by  Starbuck,  1878,  p.  17)  occurs 
the  earliest  mention  of  whaling  at  Martha's  Vineyard.  This  was  in  November,  1652,  "when 
Thomas  Daggett  and  William  Weeks  were  appointed  'whale  cutters  for  this  year.'  The  en- 
suing April  it  was  'Ordered  by  the  town  that  the  whale  is  to  be  cut  out  freely,  four  men  at 
one  time,  and  four  at  another,  and  so  every  whale,  beginning  at  the  east  end  of  the  town.'" 
This  appears  to  signify  that,  beginning  with  the  householders  at  the  east  end  of  the  town,  the 
first  four  should  take  charge  of  the  first  whale  cast  ashore,  and  should  'save'  its  oil  for  the 
tiiun  free  of  cost.  The  next  four  men  in  like  manner  were  to  attend  to  the  next  that  should 
come,  and  so  all  would  take  their  turn  in  working  for  the  common  good.  It  is  therefore  to  be 
inferred  that  the  appointment  of  but  two  'whale  cutters'  the  previous  year  had  proved  insuffi- 
cient. From  the  same  source,  we  are  informed  that  in  1690,  "Mr.  Sarson  and  William  Vinson 
were  appointed  by  'the  proprietors  of  the  whale'  to  oversee  the  cutting  and  sharing  of  all  whales 
cast  on  shore  within  the  bounds  of  Edgartown,  'they  to  have  as  much  for  their  care  as  one 
cutter.'"  Probably,  then,  as  at  Cape  Cod,  it  had  later  become  convenient  to  give  the  entire 
charge  of  saving  'drift'  whales  into  the  hands  of  a  certain  few  persons,  who  in  return  paid  the 
town  a  rental,  and  made  what  profit  they  might.  Such  were  the  "proprietors  of  the  whale." 
Xo  doubt  these  gentlemen,  eager  for  a  large  return,  did  not  take  extraordinary  pains  to  ascer- 
tain whether  such  dead  whales  seemed  to  have  died  from  natural  causes  (and  so  were  a  legiti- 
mate prey)  or  were  marked  by  harpoons  or  lance  thrusts  so  as  to  be  identifiable  by  the  whalers 


168  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

who  had  actually  killed  them  and  might  thus  rightly  claim  the  blubber.  Starbuck  (1878,  p. 
18)  finds,  thus,  in  1692  a  case  of  "the  inevitable  dispute  of  proprietorship.  A  whale  was  cast 
on  shore  at  Edgartown  by  the  proprietors,  'seized  by  Benjamin  Smith  and  Mr.  Joseph  Norton 
in  their  behalf,'  which  was  also  claimed  by  'John  Steel,  harpooner,  on  a  whale  design,  as  being 
killed  by  him.'  It  was  settled  by  placing  the  whale  in  the  custody  of  Richard  Sarson,  esq., 
and  Mr.  Benjamin  Smith,  as  agents  of  the  proprietors,  to  save  by  trying  out  and  securing  the 
oil;  'and  that  no  distribution  be  made  of  the  said  whale,  or  effects,  till  after  fifteen  days  are 
expired  after  the  date  hereof,  that  so  such  persons  who  may  pretend  an  interest  or  claim,  in 
the  whale,  may  make  their  challenge;  and  in  case  such  challenge  appear  sufficient  to  them, 
then  they  may  deliver  the  said  whale  or  oyl  to  the  challenger;  otherwise  to  give  notice  to  the 
proprietors,  who  may  do  as  the  matter  may  require.'"  From  these  meager  references  we  are 
to  infer  that  whales  were  regularly  hunted  in  the  waters  about  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  that 
they  not  infrequently  drifted,  dead,  to  the  shores,  usually  no  doubt,  victims  of  a  previous 
encounter  with  the  whalemen.  It  became  customary,  in  the  event  of  the  quarry  escaping, 
for  the  whalers  at  once  to  put  on  record  with  the  town  clerk,  the  wounds  'of  the  whale  and  the 
marks  of  the  harpoons  that  so  it  might  be  identified  in  case  it  drifted  to  land.  Such  an  entry 
is  quoted  by  Starbuck  (1878,  p.  35)  from  the  Court  records  of  Martha's  Vineyard  for  the  year 
1702-03:  "The  marks  of  the  whales  killed  by  John  Butler  and  Thomas  Lothrop.  One  whale 
lanced  near  or  over  the  shoulder  blade,  near  the  left  shoulder  blade  only;  another  killed  with 
an  iron  forward  in  the  left  side,  marked  W;  and  upon  the  right  side  marked  with  a  pocket- 
knife  T.  L. ;  and  the  other  had  an  iron  hole  over  the  right  shoulder-blade,  with  two  lance  holes 
in  the  same  side,  one  in  the  belly.  These  whales  were  all  killed  about  the  middle  of  February 
last  past;  all  great  whales,  betwixt  six  and  seven  and  eight  foot  bone,  which  are  all  gone  from 
us.  A  true  account  given  by  John  Butler  from  us,  and  recorded  Per  me,  Thomas  Trapp, 
Clerk." 

Martha's  Vineyard  seems  never  to  have  been  very  prominent  in  whaling,  and  the  few 
references  that  apply  to  the  industry  there  after  1700  have  to  do  mainly  with  deep-sea  voyages, 
for  the  Right  Whales  were  nearly  exterminated  in  the  adjacent  waters  by  the  first  quarter  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  by  its  close  they  were  so  scarce  that  a  writer  l  in  1807  says:  "But 
the  whale,  which  was  formerly  so  abundant  on  the  coast,  has  almost  disappeared.  .  .  .Two 
have  been  taken  during  the  course  of  the  last  twenty  years." 

Early  Whaling  in  Rhode  Island. —  In  1663,  King  Charles  II  granted  a  charter  to  the  Rhode 
Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  which  among  other  privileges,  provides:  "ffurther,  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  inhabitants  of  our  sayd  Collony  of  Providence  Plantations  to  sett 
vpon  the  business  of  takeing  whales,  itt  shall  bee  lawefull  ffor  them,  or  any  of  them,  having 
struck  whale,  dubertus  [i.  e.,  Finback  Whales],  or  other  greate  ffish,  itt  or  them,  to  pursue  unto 

1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1846,  ser.  2,  vol.  3,  p.  55. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  169 

any  parte  of  that  coaste,  and  into  any  bay,  river,  cove,  creeke  or  shoare,  belonging  thereto,  to 
kill  and  order  to  the  best  advantage,  without  molestation,  they  makeing  noe  wilfull  waste  or 
spoyle."  ' 

To  what  extent  the  inhabitants  of  Rhode  Island  availed  themselves  of  the  whaling  privi- 
leges thus  granted,  there  seems  to  be  little  record.  It  may  safely  be  inferred,  however,  that 
whaling  was  carried  on  in  the  adjacent  waters,  and  that  dead  whales,  probably  in  large  part 
those  previously  wounded,  were  from  time  to  time  driven  ashore  by  wind  and  tide.  Here,  as 
elsewhere,  such  flotsam  was  considered  a  perquisite  of  the  Crown,  provided  that  no  proof  could 
be  shown  that  the  whale  had  been  harpooned  by  the  whalers.  But  the  Crown  officers  seem  to 
have  been  rather  lax  in  the  administration  of  such  prizes,  until  in  1686,  at  a  town  meeting  at 
Westerly,  March  24,  it  was  "VOATED:  that  whereas  sundry  fish  of  considderable  value  have 
been  formerly  cast  up  within  the  confines  of  this  towne,  and  have  been  monopolized  by  pertic- 
uler  persons  bellonging  to  other  jurisdicttions,  whereby  his  Majesty  and  subjects  have  been 
wronged  of  their  just  Rights  and  priviledges;  And  to  protect  the  like  for  the  future,  The  Towne 
doe  order,  That  if  any  Whale,  Dubertus,  [a  name  applied  to  the  Finback  Whales]  or  other  great 
fish  of  considerable  value  shall  be  cast  up  within  the  limmits  of  this  Towne,  the  person  or  per- 
sons that  shall  first  find  it  shall  forthwith  make  the  Authorities  and  Inhabitants  acquainted 
with  the  same,  that  his  Majesties  Right  may  be  secured,  and  the  remainder  to  be  equally 
divided  among  the  inhabitants;  and  the  person  or  persons  so  doeing  shall  be  duly  Recom- 
pensed for  their  paines And  if  any  person  or  persons  shall  presume  to  break  up  any  such 

fish  or  fishes,  before  publycation  thereof,  According  to  this  order,  he  or  they,  or  either  of  them, 
shall  pay  thirty  pounds  sterling  as  a  fine  to  the  towne,  and  return  the  fish  that  they  have 
taken."  The  "perticuler  persons  bellonging  to  other  jurisdicttions"  may  well  have  been 
some  of  the  more  energetic  whalers  of  Stonington  or  New  London,  who  at  this  time  were  proba- 
bly active  in  the  shore  fishery.  The  large  amount  of  the  fine  (£30)  imposed  for  breach  of  this 
order  is  indicative  of  the  determination  of  the  people  at  Westerly  to  permit  no  more  'drift' 
whales  to  be  cut  up  and  carried  off  by  their  brethren  of  neighboring  towns.  This  order  of 
Itisd,  it  will  appear,  is  practically  the  same  in  its  tenor  as  the  law  that  existed  in  1652  in  the 
Plymouth  Colony,  making  the  "drift  fish"  public  property  to  be  shared  equally  by  the  inhabi- 
tants, after  the  Crown  had  been  accorded  its  due  portion.  That  so  few  echoes  of  strife  over 
the  possession  of  whales  are  heard  from  Rhode  Island  is  perhaps  evidence  that  they  were  little 
pursued  by  the  settlers  of  its  shores. 

After  the  devastating  French  and  Indian  Wars,  attempts  were  made  to  stimulate  the  fishing 
industry,  and  in  March,  1751,  the  General  Assembly  at  Providence  passed  an  act  for  encourag- 
ing the  "whale  and  cod  fishery  within  this  colony."  To  this  end  a  bounty  of  four  shillings 

1  Records  Colony  of  R.  I.  and  Providence  Plantations,  1857,  vol.  2,  p.  16. 
»  Denison,  F.     Westerly  (Rhode  Island),  1878,  p.  223. 


170  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

was  allowed  on  every  barrel  of  whale  oil  and  one  shilling  on  every  pound  of  whalebone.  The 
effect  of  this  act  is  not  apparent. 

Whaling  in  Connecticut. —  That  whaling  was  begun  or  contemplated  on  the  Connecticut 
shores  shortly  previous  to  1650,  is  evidenced  by  a  minute  in  the  Colonial  Records,  (Public 
Records  of  Conn.,  1850,  vol.  1,  p.  154),  showing  that  the  General  Court  at  Hartford,  on  May 
25,  1647,  resolved  that  "Yf  Mr.  Whiting  wth  any  others  shall  make  tryall  and  prsecute  a  de- 
signe  for  the  takeing  of  Whale,  wthin  these  libertyes,  and  if  vppon  tryall  w  in  the  terme  of 
two  yeares,  they  shall  like  to  goe  on,  noe  others  shalbe  suffered  to  interrupt  them,  for  team  IP 
of  seauen  yeares." 

This  method  of  granting  monopolies,  we  are  informed,  was  the  customary  mode  of  encour- 
aging enterprise  at  that  early  day.1  Of  Mr.  Whiting's  project,  however,  nothing  further  is 
known.  It  is  probable,  nevertheless,  that  whales  frequently  came  into  the  eastern  end  of 
Long  Island  Sound,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  settlers  on  that  part  of  the  Connecti- 
cut sea  board  engaged  at  times  in  their  pursuit.  Caulkins  l  notes  the  mention  of  "a  whale- 
boat"  in  an  enumeration  of  goods  at  New  London  before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  same  author  quotes  an  old  memorandum  of  January  13,  1717:  "Comfort  Davis  hath 
hired  my  whale  boat  to  go  a  whaling  to  Fisher's  Island,  till  the  20th  of  next  month,  to  pay 
twenty  shillings  for  her  hire,  and  if  he  stays  longer,  thirty  shillings.  If  she  be  lost,  and  they 
get  nothing,  he  is  to  pay  me  £3,  but  if  they  get  a  fish,  £3,  10s."  It  is  to  be  inferred  that  the 
expectation  was  not  for  a  very  large  catch  —  "if  they  get  a  fish,"  the  owner  of  the  boat  seems 
to  think  they  shall  have  done  as  much  as  could  reasonably  be  expected. 

Probably  Right  Whales  did  not  penetrate  far  into  the  Sound,  but  came  now  and  then  to 
its  eastern  end.  Although  Stonington  and  New  London  at  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  became  important  whaling  ports,  their  vessels  of  course  cruised  far  from  the  home 
waters.  No  doubt  local  whaling  declined  here  as  elsewhere  in  eastern  New  England  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Linsley  mentions  that  just  previous  to  1842  a  school 
of  Right  Whales  appeared  in  the  waters  off  Stonington,  whither  one  of  them  was  later  brought, 
while  a  second  was  killed  by  whalers  from  Montauk,  Long  Island.  This  would  indicate  that 
boats  were  still  kept  in  readiness  for  the  occasional  appearance  of  the  whales,  but  the  industry 
had  long  since  ceased  to  have  local  importance. 

Tield  of  Oil  and  Baleen. 

According  to  Collett  (1909,  p.  95)  the  amount  of  first  quality  oil  yielded  by  this  species 
varied  from  ten  to  thirty  barrels  in  case  of  those  captured  of  late  years  among  the  Hebrides. 
These  amounts  seem  small,  however,  in  comparison  with  those  elsewhere  recorded,  which 
probably  include  the  total  amount  of  oil  obtained. 

1  Caulkins,  F.  M.     History  of  New  London,  Conn.,  1852,  p.  638. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC'  RIGHT  WHALE.  171 

Two  Right  Whales  captured  off  Provincetown  about  the  20th  of  May,  1888,  yielded  to- 
gether about  170  barrels  of  oil,  an  average  of  85  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  10,  no.  35,  May  31, 
1888). 

A  Right  Whale  killed  off  Nantucket  in  April,  1886,  is  said  to  have  yielded  about  forty 
barrels  of  oil  and  G50  pounds  of  whalebone.  The  total  yield  from  this  and  two  others  of  about 
the  same  size,  taken  at  this  time,  was  about  125  barrels  of  oil  and  1500  pounds  of  "whalebone 
(Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  8,  no.  31,  Apl.  29,  1886;  no.  32,  May  6,  1886). 

An  unusually  large  and  fat  cow  Right  Whale,  accompanied  by  a  calf,  was  killed  off  Cape 
Cod  about  the  first  of  June,  1888,  and  was  estimated  to  yield  about  100  barrels  of  oil  and  1500 
pounds  of  whalebone,  worth  at  that  time  between  $3000  and  $4000  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  10, 
no.  36,  June  7,  1888).  The  Right  Whale,  taken  off  Plymouth,  Mass.,  in  April,  1864,  whose 
mounted  skeleton  is  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  yielded  eighty  barrels 
and  fourteen  gallons  of  oil  which  was  sold  for  $1.14  per  gallon.  The  baleen  taken  from  it 
weighed  1001  pounds  and  sold  for  $1.00  a  pound. 

According  to  Douglass  '  they  "do  yield  not  exceeding  120  to  130  barrels  oil,  and  9  feet  bone 
140  II).  \vt."  The  Arctic  Bowhead  Whale  yields  from  400  to  500  barrels  of  oil. 

Dr.  F.  W.  True  (1904)  quotes  the  following  from  O'Callaghan's  Documents  relating  to 
the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  taken  from  a  letter  dated  July  1,  1708,  and  addressed  to 
the  Lords  of  Trade  by  one  Lord  Cornbury:  "a  Yearling  will  make  about  forty  Barrels  of  Oyl, 
a  Stunt  or  Whale  of  two  years  old  will  make  sometimes  fifty,  sometimes  Sixty  Barrils  of  Oyl, 
and  the  largest  whale  that  I  have  heard  of  in  these  Parts,  yielded  one  hundred  and  ten  barrils 
of  Oyl,  and  twelve  hundred  Weight  of  bone." 

Paul  Dudley,  in  his  essay  on  the  whales  of  New  England,  records  that  "one  of  these  Whales 
has  yielded  One  hundred  and  thirty  Barrels  of  Oil,  and  near  twenty  out  of  the  Tongue." 

C'ollett  states  that  four  whales  of  this  species  yielded  a  ton  of  whalebone  worth  (in  1909) 
about  $7500,  and  that  the  weight  of  baleen  in  a  full  grown  specimen  is  from  250  to  330  kilograms 
(551  to  668  pounds). 

The  Right  Whale  usually  floats,  nearly  awash,  when  dead,  so  that  it  is  not  so  difficult  a 
matter  to  tow  it  ashore  when  captured  at  sea.  This,  however,  is  not  always  the  case,  depending 
doubtless  on  the  condition  of  the  whale,  whether  there  is  less  than  the  normal  amount  of 
blubber  in  proportion  to  the  flesh  and  bone  to  decrease  the  specific  gravity  of  its  body  to  less 
than  that  of  sea  water.  A  "thirty-barrel"  Right  Whale  (and  hence  comparatively  lean  for 
this  species)  was  struck  off  Nantucket  in  April,  1886,  and  after  a  short  struggle,  was  dispatched. 
It  was  no  sooner  dead,  however,  when  it  "rolled  over  and  sank  in  eleven  fathoms  of  water"  so 

1  Douglass,  W.  A.     A  Summary,  historical  and  political,  of  the  first  planting,  progressive  improvement,  and  present 
.^t:itc  of  the  British  settlements  in  North  America,  1755,  vol.  1,  p.  56. 
1  Documents  relative  to  Colonial  Hist.  N.  Y.,  1855,  vol.  5,  p.  60. 


172 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


that  it  was  necessary  to  attach  a  buoy  to  the  line  and  wait  for  the  body  to  rise,  "which  it  was 
thought  it  would  do  in  about  forty-eight  hours"  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  8,  no.  30,  Apl.  22, 
1886). 

The  use  of  whalebone  for  stays  in  women's  clothes  probably  dates  back  to  the  early  days 
of  whaling,  perhaps  the  10th  century  or  thereabouts.  Blackstone  mentions  the  ancient  right  of 
the  Crown  to  a  share  in  the  oil  and  baleen  of  the  whales  taken.  He  says:  "Another  ancient 
prerequisite  belonging  to  the  Queen  Consort,  mentioned  by  all  old  writers,.  . .  .is  this;  that  on 
the  taking  of  a  whale  on  the  coast,  which  is  a  royal  fish,  it  shall  be  divided  between  the  King 
and  Queen,  the  head  only  being  the  King's  portion,  and  the  tail  of  it  the  Queen's.  The  reason 
of  this  whimsical  division,  as  assigned  by  our  ancient  records,  was  to  furnish  the  Queen's  ward- 
robe with  whalebone."  *  Pennant  explains  that  it  was  anciently  believed  that  the  plates  of 
baleen  were  the  tail  of  the  monster,  hence  the  whalebone  must  have  been  allotted  the  Queen. 


Enemies  and  Parasites. 

The  Orca  or  Killer  Whale  (Orcinus  orca)  is  said  occasionally  to  attack  the  Right  Whale; 
sometimes  several  combine  and  appear  to  be  trying  to  bite  the  lips  and  tongue.  These  accounts 
require  confirmation,  however.  Otherwise,  the  species  is  not  known  to  have  any  natural 


234 

TEXT-FIGS.  2,  3,  4. —  Three  species  of  Whale-lice,  small  crustaceans  parasitic  on  the  Right  Whale. 
2. —  Cyamus  gracilis  o*.     After  Lutken,  1873,  Plate  4,  fig.  10. 
3. —  Cyamus  ovalis  0".     After  Lutken,  1873,  Plate  2,  fig.  4. 
4. —  Cyamus  erraticus  d\     After  Lutken,  1873,  Plate  3,  fig.  5. 

enemies,  a  fact  which  may  in  some  measure  account  for  its  quiet  habits.     It  is  not  even  known 
that  individuals  fight  among  themselves,  and  its  powerful  tail  is  its  only  means  of  defense. 

Of  ectoparasites,  the  so-called  Whale-louse  is  the  best  known.     This  is  an  amphipod  crus- 
tacean that  has  become  highly  modified  for  its  peculiar  mode  of  life.     The  body  is  about  half 

1  Blackstone's  Com.  Book,  vol.  1,  p.  222. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE.  173 

an  inch  in  length,  much  flattened,  with  five  pairs  of  legs,  each  armed  with  a  sharp  recurved 
claw  for  clinging  to  the  whale.  There  are  two  pairs  of  anterior  clawed  appendages  and  three 
posterior.  On  the  intermediate  two  segments  are  the  paired  branchial  sacs.  The  abdomen 
has  become  reduced  to  a  mere  knob.  Liitken  (1873)  found  two  species  on  the  Nordkapers 
taken  at  Iceland:  Cyamus  ovalis  and  C.  erraticus.  Guldberg  (1891)  in  examining  two  other 
specimens  of  this  whale  at  Iceland,  found  C.  ovalis  only,  and  this  is  probably  the  common  species 
in  the  North  Atlantic.  In  the  Southern  Ocean,  a  third  species,  C.  gracilis,  is  found  together 
with  the  two  others,  infesting  the  Southern  Right  Whale.  In  the  North  Pacific,  C.  ovalis 
and  ('.  t/racilis  also  occur  together,  and  the  latter  may  be  looked  for  perhaps  in  the  North 
Atlantic.  These  crustaceans  infest  the  rugosities  on  the  rostrum,  and  on  the  anterior  ends 
and  sides  of  the  jaw,  and  may  also  be  found  about  the  genitalia  or  scattered  over  the  body. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  they  cause  the  rough  appearance  of  the  knobs  on  the  head,  but  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  'bonnet'  is  the  result  of  inflammation  induced  by  their  activity 
as  one  writer  has  suggested.  A  number  were  observed  on  the  Provincetown  1909  whale,  but 
unfortunately  none  was  preserved.  The  genus  is  omitted  from  Miss  Rathbun's  list  of  New 
Kngland  Crustacea. 

Apparently  the  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  does  not  usually  carry  barnacles.  Indeed 
the  only  definite  mention  of  these  crustaceans  on  our  species  is  the  statement  of  Van  Beneden 
(1890)  that  he  possessed  an  excellent  drawing  of  a  Coronula  made  from  a  specimen  taken 
from  the  skin  of  a  Nordkaper  captured  toward  the  end  of  the  18th  century  between  Iceland 
and  Newfoundland.  The  evidence  of  its  origin  does  not  seem  to  be  quite  as  convincing  as 
one  could  wish,  and  in  view  of  the  apparent  lack  of  other  records  of  its  occurrence  on  this 
whale,  there  is  a  strong  presumption  that  it  may  have  come  from  a  Humpback.  In  the  same 
paper,  Van  Beneden  (1890)  figures  a  Coronula,  identified  as  C.  regince,  a  Pacific  species,  which 
was  picked  up  on  the  Gaspe  shore,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  attached  to  a  piece  of  the  integument 
of  a  whale.  He  believes  this  may  have  come  from  a  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale,  and  adduces 
tins  specimen  as  evidence  of  the  world- wide  range  of  the  species.  The  evidence,  however, 
is  inconclusive.  The  specimen  is  of  unknown  origin,  and  may  even  have  been  taken  in  the 
Pacific,  kept  by  some  whaleman,  and  thrown  overboard  in  the  Atlantic  and  so  drifted  to  the 
Gaspe  coast. 

On  the  Right  Whale  of  the  South  Seas,  however,  a  cylindrical  species,  Tubidnella  trachealis, 
occurs  imbedded  deep  in  the  bonnet.  According  to  Steenstrup  (Liitken,  1873,  p.  244)  a  speci- 
men supposed  to  have  come  from  a  Nordkaper  stranded  on  the  Faroe  Islands  in  1650  is  figured 
and  described  by  Ole  Worms. 


174  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Jonah  and  the  Whale. 

A  question  very  frequently  asked  is:  What  kind  of  whale  was  it  that  swallowed  Jonah? 
If  a  whale  actually  did  swallow  the  prophet,  it  was  certainly  none  of  the  whalebone  whales. 
For  in  all  these  the  gullet  is  far  too  small  to  permit  of  such  a  feat,  and  even  in  the  larger  spe- 
cies is  not  greatly  bigger  than  the  diameter  of  a  large  man's  fist.  The  Sperm  Whale  is  probably 
the  only  one  of  the  existing  whales  that  is  capable  of  swallowing  a  man,  but  that  it  would 
actually  do  so  is  very  unlikely. 

According  to  the  biblical  account,  Jonah  had  been  called  by  the  Lord  to  go  to  Nineveh 
to  preach  to  the  people  of  their  wickedness.  But  he,  fearing  to  do  so,  embarked  at  Joppa  on 
a  ship  for  Spain  (Tarshish)  and  on  the  voyage  was  caught  in  a  heavy  storm.  The  ship's  crew 
believing  Jonah  to  be  the  cause  of  the  storm,  at  his  bidding  cast  him  into  the  sea.  The  trans- 
lation of  the  Hebrew  text  reads  (Jonah  i:  17):  "Now  the  Lord  had  prepared  a  great  fish  to 
swallow  up  Jonah.  And  Jonah  was  in  the  belly  of  the  fish  three  days  and  three  nights."  There 
is  thus  nothing  to  show  that  a  whale  was  intended.  That  it  was  a  whale,  however,  is  supposed 
to  be  indicated  by  the  passage  in  Matthew's  Gospel  (xii:  40):  "For  as  Jonas  was  three  days 
and  three  nights  in  the  whale's  belly;  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  three  days  and  three  nights 
in  the  heart  of  the  earth."  But  the  word  translated  as  'whale'  is  the  Greek  Kfjros  which 
means  a  sea  monster  and  might  quite  as  well  have  been  a  shark  or  other  large  marine  animal. 
For  those  who  prefer  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  passage,  therefore,  the  "great  fish"  may 
have  been  a  huge  shark  or  even  a  Sperm  Whale,  while  those  who  wish  to  take  it  figuratively, 
may  dodge  the  issue  by  supposing  Jonah  to  have  been  cast  off  in  a  small  boat  which  he  likened 
to  the  bowels  of  a  sea  monster,  but  which  after  three  days  of  rough  weather  eventually  brought 
him  to  land.  Haupt  (1907)  adduces  several  instances  of  the  occurrence  of  the  Sperm  Whale 
in  the  Mediterranean,  and  suggests  that  the  idea  of  a  sea  monster  was  given  to  the  author  of 
the  Book  of  Jonah  by  the  local  legends  connected  with  Joppa,  the  port  from  which  Jonah 
embarked;  for  it  was  here  that  Andromeda  was  rescued  from  a  sea  monster  by  Perseus. 

What  a  pity,  as  someone  has  remarked,  that  so  great  a  prophet  should  be  chiefly  remem- 
bered for  this  trifling  incident  of  his  missionary  journey! 

An  Indian  Totem. 

An  interesting  carved  stone,  apparently  a  piece  of  aboriginal  art,  has  been  described  from 
Seabrook,  N.  H.,  by  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam.1  It  evidently  represents  a  cetacean,  with  rudely 
indicated  pectoral  fins  and  horizontal  tail.  The  absence  of  a  dorsal  fin  might  indicate  that 
it  was  meant  to  represent  the  Right  Whale,  but  the  mouth  has  more  the  form  of  a  White 

1  Putnam,  F.  W.     Bull.  Essex  Inst,  1873,  vol.  5,  p.  Ill,  figs. 


NORTH  ATLANTIC  RIGHT  WHALE. 


175 


: 


Whale's  (Delphinapterus).  The  probability  seems  to  favor  its  having  been  a  Right  Whale, 
however,  since  this  species  must  have  been  of  importance  and  well  known  to  the  Indians, 
whereas  the  White  Porpoise  is  rare  on  our  coast.  The  carving  is  described  as  rudely  done  by 
picking  the  sienitic  rock,  from  which  it  was  made,  with  stone  implements.  A  small  hole 
through  the  tail  seems  to  imply  that  it  was  to  be  suspended.  It  measured  ten  inches  in  length 
and  about  two  inches  in  greatest  diameter.  Professor  Putnam  believed  that  it  was  probably 
used  by  the  Indians  as  a  totem.  Two  other  similarly  worked  stones  were  said  to  have  been 
found  at  the  same  place. 

A  somewhat  similar  stone  is  in  the  museum  of  the  Department  of  Archaeology,  of  Phillips 
c.ulemy,  Andover,  Mass.  It  was  found  at  Fall  River,  and  differs  from  the  Seabrook  speci- 
men in  the  greater  crudeness  of  design.  The  flukes  are  not  shown,  but  instead  the  tail  end  is 
tapering,  with  a  groove  as  if  for  suspension  by  a  cord.  Possibly  both  were  used  as  plummets 
or  sinkers  for  fish  nets. 


176 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Balaenoptera  physalus  (LINNE). 

COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE. 
PLATE  10;  PLATE  11,  FIG.  2;  PLATE  13,  FIGS.  4,  5. 

SYNONYMY. 

1758.     Balaena  physalus  Linne,  Syst.  Nat.,  ed.  10,  vol.  1,  p.  75. 

1758.     Balaena  boops  Linne,  Syst.  Nat.,  ed.  10,  vol.  1,  p.  76  (=  young  of  B.  physalus). 

1792.     Balaena  physalis  Kerr,  Anim.  Kingdom,  vol.  1,  p.  358. 

1803-4.     Balaenoptera  gibbar  Lacepede,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Cetaces,  vol.  1,  pp.  liii,  168,  pi.  1,  fig.  2. 

1803-4.     Balaenoptera  rorqual  Lacepede,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Cetaces,  vol.  1,  pp.  liv,  185,  pi.  1,  fig.  3;   pi.  5,  fig.  1; 

pi.  7. 

1811.     Balaena  sulcata  Neill,  Mem.  Wernerian  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  1,  p.  212. 
1820.     Balaena  gibbar  Desmarest,  Mammalogie,  vol.  1,  p.  528. 
1825.     Balaenoptera  sulcata  Jacob,  Dublin  Philos.  Journ.,  p.  333. 

1827.  Balaena  rostrata  var.  major  Rosenthal,  Einige  naturhist.  Bemerk.  iiber  die  Walle,  plate. 

1828.  Balaenoptera  mediterraneensis  Lesson,  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.  et  Partic.  des  Mamm.  et  des  Oiseaux,  Cetaces,  pp. 

361,  442  (renaming  of  Lacepede's  B.  rorqual). 

1828.  Physalis  vulgaris  Fleming,  Hist.  British  Animals,  p.  32. 

1829.  Balaena  antiquorum  Fischer,  Synopsis  Mamm.,  p.  525. 

1829.  Balaenoptera  aragous  Farines  and  Carcassonne,  Memoire  sur  un  Cetace  echoue  le  27  novembre  1828 

sur  la  cote .  .  .  .  de  Saint-Cyprien.     Perpignan,  2  pages. 

1830.  Balaena  musculus  Companyo,  Memoire  descriptif  et  osteographie  de  la  baleine  echouee  sur  les  cotes 

de  la  mer,  pres  de  Saint  Cyprien,  departement  des  Pyrenees-Orientales,  le  27  novbre  1828.     Per- 
pignan, 71  pp.,  5  pis. 
1834.     Balaenoptera  jubartes  Dewhurst,  Nat.  Hist.  Cetacea,  p.  101  (not  Lacepede). 

1836.  Rorqualus  musculus  F.  Cuvier,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Cetaces,  p.  334. 

1837.  Balaenoptera  borealis  Rapp,  Die  Cetaceen  zoologisch-anatomisch  dargestellt.    Stuttgart  und  Tubingen, 

8vo,  p.  52,  (not  of  Lesson). 

1840.  Balaenoptera  tenuirostris  Sweeting,  Charlesworth's  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  new  ser.,  vol.  4,  p.  343. 

1841.  Balaena  sulcata  arctica  Schlegel,  Abhandl.  Zool.  u.  Vergl.  Anat.,  no.  1,  pi.  6,  figs.  1,  2. 
1843.     Balaenoptera  arctica  Schlegel,  Weit.  Beitr.  z.  Naturg.  Cetaceen,  p.  10,  pi.  9. 

1846.  Balaenoptera  antiquorum  Gray,  Zool.  Voyage  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  50. 

1847.  Physalus  antiquorum  Gray,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  90. 

1847.     Physalus  (Rorqualus)  boops  Gray,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  91. 

1856.  Physalus  duguidii  Heddle,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  187-198,  pis.  (Mamm.)  44,  45  (name  occurs  on 

plates  only). 

1857.  Pterobalaena  communis  van  Beneden,  Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  2,  vol.  1,  p.  403. 

1860.     Balaenoptera  robusta  Lilljeborg,  Foredrag  vid  Naturforsk-Motet  i  Kopenhaun,  p.  602;   Upsala  Univ. 

Arsskriv.,  1862  (not  Eschrichtius  robustus  of  Gray;   based  on  a  subfossil  and  imperfect  skeleton 

from  Sweden). 

1862.     Pterobalaena  musculus  Lilljeborg,  Upsala  Univ.  Arsskrift  for  1861-2,  p.  43. 
1862.     Balaenoptera  physalus  Schlegel,  De  Dieren  van  Nederland:   Gewervelde  Dieren,  p.  101,  pi.  20;   True, 

Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  1898,  vol.  21,  p.  633. 


PLATE  10. 

Common  Finback  Whale  (Balaenoptera  physalus).     Drawn  by  J.  Henry  Blake  from  measurements  of  Dr. 
Dwight's  Gloucester,  Mass.,  specimen  (see  Memoirs  B.  S.  N.  H.,  1872,  vol.  2,  p.  203). 


.-. 
- 


o 

Z 

od 

J 
c 


1 

o 
n 


u 
5 


\ 


i 

g 

en 

z 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  177 

lst>:>.  .'Hii/ii,  iiojtti 'ni  xynrnndylus  A.  Muller,  Schrift.  K.  Phys.  Oekonom.  Ges.  Konigsberg,  vol.  4,  p.  38-78, 
pi.  1-3. 

iMi  I.     Iturtiutilit.i  ant i quorum  Gervais,  Compt.  Rend.  Acad.  Sci.  Paris,  vol.  59,  p.  880. 

IStll.     Hi-Hi'drtiia  knnxii  Gray,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  212,  fig.  8-8b. 

isti'.i.     Xililmldim  tubcrosua  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  Phila.,  p.  17  (  =  B.  physalus,  fide  True,  1904). 

IMl'.i.     Sililinldiuit  tret i rostris  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  Phila.,  p.  17. 

1S7I .  linirdrnla  Loops  Gray,  Supplement  to  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Museum,  p.  52  (not  Gray,  Synop- 
sis, 1865,  as  here  stated). 

1S7I .     Pit  i/.ial  ii.i  musculus  Malm,  Kongl.  Svenska  Vet.-Akad.  Hand!.,  vol.  9,  pt.  2,  no.  2,  p.  40. 

1S7.'{.     Pliysal us  dugcridii  Gray,  Zoologist,  ser.  2,  p.  3363  (misprint). 

Isxi.  Dubertus  rhodinsulensis  Trumbull,  inG.  B.  Goode,  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  section  1, 
vol.  1,  p.  29  (nomcn  nudum). 

1914.  li/iliicinijiti'm  muscularis  Daniel  and  Hamilton,  Kept.  83d  Meeting  British  Assn.  Adv.  Sci.,  1913,  p. 
155  (errorim). 

History  and  Nomenclature. 

Although  the  Finback  had  long  been  known  in  a  general  way,  and  is  probably  the  species 
referred  to  by  Pliny  as  known  to  the  Ancients,  it  was  perhaps  not  until  1675  that  it  was  recog- 
nix;il)ly  described  and  figured  by  Martens  in  his  Spitzbergische  oder  Gronlandische  Reise 
Beschreibung  gethan  im  Jahr  1671,  where  it  is  called  "Finfisch."  In  1725  Paul  Dudley,  in 
In-  e.-sav  on  the  natural  history  of  the  whales  of  New  England,  also  distinguished  this  species 
carefully,  and  it  is  on  these  two  accounts  that  the  Latin  names  of  the  earlier  systematists, 
Klein,  Brisson,  and  Linne,  were  chiefly  based.  True  (1898)  has  carefully  analysed  Linne's 
references  in  the  tenth  edition  of  the  Systema  Naturae  and  has  shown  conclusively  that  his 
Balaena  physalus  is  the  Common  Finback,  since  it  is  based  on  Martens's  account.  Linnets 
lidlncna  loops,  he  further  proves,  was  founded  on  Sibbald's  account  (published  in  Phalaino- 
logiu  Nova,  1692)  of  a  young  whale  of  the  same  species,  hence  it  becomes  a  synonym  of  physalus, 
and  is  not  applicable  to  the  Humpback,  notwithstanding  current  usage  to  the  contrary  till 
very  recent  years. 

In  his  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Ce'tace's,  1803-4,  the  French  naturalist  Lac6pede  erected 
the  genus  Balaenoptera  for  the  Finner  Whales,  and  through  a  misconception,  named  as  B.  gibbar 
a  supposed  species  without  throat  folds.  This,  however,  was  undoubtedly  based  on  an  im- 
perfect figure  by  Martens,  1675,  in  which  no  throat  folds  were  shown.  The  name  Balae- 
tiii/i/i'ra  rorqual  was  given  in  the  same  work  to  what  was  considered  the  real  Finback. 
In  1811  Neill  redescribed  the  Finback  from  a  specimen  from  Scottish  waters  under  the 
name  of  Balaena  sulcata,  in  reference  to  the  longitudinal  throat  folds,  and  in  1841,  Schlegel, 
in  an  anatomical  paper  on  the  same  species  used  this  name  in  a  trinomial,  Balaena 
nnlrnta  arclica.  In  a  separately  published  work  by  Rosenthal,  1827,  is  a  very  circumstantial 
account  of  the  capture  of  a  whale  on  the  west  coast  of  Riigen,  Germany,  two  years  before.  It 
is  accompanied  by  a  plate,  drawn  to  scale,  showing  a  Balaenoptera  some  43  feet  long  with  white 


178  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

belly  and  high  dorsal  fin.  The  name  Balaena  rostrata  var.  major  is  given  it,  and  its  skeleton 
appears  to  have  been  preserved  at  Greifswald.  Eschricht  (1899)  refers  to  the  specimen,  and 
from  the  fact  that  he  credits  it  with  fifteen  pairs  of  ribs,  it  was  probably  a  Finback.  The 
British  naturalist  Fleming,  in  1828,  proposed  to  call  the  Common  Finback  Physalis  vulgaris, 
though  his  account  probably  relates  to  the  Blue  Whale  as  well,  while  in  the  same  year  the 
French  naturalist  Lesson  gave  the  name  Balaenoptera  mediterraneensis  to  the  Finback  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  founding  his  account  on  Lac6pede's  description  of  a  specimen  from  the 
coast  of  Southern  France.  Fischer  the  following  year,  1829,  independently  named  the  Medi- 
terranean Whale  supposing  it  to  be  different  from  that  of  the  Atlantic.  His  name,  Balaena 
antiquorum,  is  based  chiefly  on  Lacepede's  description,  but  he  refers  also  to  the  accounts  of 
Pliny  and  the  older  naturalists.  This  same  year,  1829,  a  Finback  Whale  was  cast  ashore  on 
the  French  coast  at  Saint  Cyprien  and  formed  the  subject  of  a  brief  communication  by  MM. 
Farines  and  Carcassonne,  who  called  it  Balaenoptera  aragous  after  M.  Arago,  one  of  the  chief 
men  of  the  D6partement  where  the  whale  came  ashore.  This  name  is  quoted  by  Gervais  (1864), 
but  does  not  seem  to  appear  elsewhere  in  literature.  The  following  year,  1830,  Companyo 
published  a  more  extended  account  of  this  same  specimen,  which  he  called,  unfortunately, 
Balaena  musculus  of  Linne,  referring  it  to  the  subgenus  Balaenoptera.  In  the  application  of 
this  specific  name  to  the  Finback  Whale,  most  later  writers  have  followed  him  until  True  (1898) 
showed  that  Linne's  musculus  refers  to  the  Blue  Whale.  Thus,  previous  to  1831,  no  less  than 
eleven  different  trivial  names  were  proposed  for  the  Common  Finback  of  the  North  Atlantic. 

Schlegel,  in  1862,  was  the  first  to  employ  the  combination  Balaenoptera  physalus,  which,  as 
it  now  appears,  is  the  correct  term  for  our  Common  Finback.  Meanwhile  Sweeting  in  1840  had 
described  as  Balaenoptera  tenuirostris  a  specimen  stranded  at  Charmouth  Beach,  England,  and  in 
1856  a  Finback  captured  in  Orkney  was  named  Physalus  duguidii  by  Heddle.  Van  Beneden, 
in  1857,  raised  to  generic  rank  the  subgenus  Pterobalaena,  proposed  in  1849  by  Eschricht,  and 
as  the  custom  was,  gave  a  new  specific  name  at  the  same  time  —  Pterobalaena  communis. 

The  synonymy  of  this  species  furnishes  a  good  index  of  the  progress  of  cetology  during 
the  last  century.  The  lack  of  knowledge  as  to  the  amount  of  individual  variation  in  these 
great  mammals,  and  the  difficulty  of  making  exact  comparisons,  led  for  a  time  to  the  belief 
that  there  were  divers  sorts  characterized  by  various  differences  in  form  and  skeleton  which 
Gray,  Eschricht,  Lilljeborg,  Cope  and  others  proposed  to  consider  as  distinct  species  or  even 
genera.  Thus  were  founded  such  genera  as  Pterobalaena,  Sibbaldius,  Benedenia,  with  sundry 
species,  as  Pterobalaena  communis,  Physalus  duguidii,  Benedenia  knoxii,  as  well  as  Sibbaldius 
tuberosus  and  S.  tectirostris  based  on  American  specimens  by  Cope.  But  with  the  advance 
of  knowledge,  it  has  become  apparent  that  the  small  or  fancied  differences  which  these  names 
were  intended  to  mark,  are  after  all  mainly  matters  of  individuality  or  misconception,  and 
that  they  all  refer  to  but  a  single  species. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  179 

Fossil  remains,  now  considered  indistinguishable  from  B.  physalus,  have  been  found  in 
Sweden,  and  formed  in  1860  the  basis  of  Lilljeborg's  Balaenoptera  robusta.  The  posterior 
portion  of  a  cranium  dug  up  in  Germany,  and  in  which  the  condyles  are  unusually  close  together, 
may  also  be  a  Finback.  It  was  made  in  1863,  the  basis  of  Miiller's  Balaenoptera  syncondylus. 
Fossil  remains  are  known  from  the  Pleistocene  deposits  of  Canada. 

The  type  locality  given  by  Linne  is  the  indefinite  one  of  "Oceano  Europaeo,"  but  as  his 
name  is  based  on  Martens's  account,  this  should  be  interpreted  as  the  seas  between  Europe 
and  Spitsbergen. 

The  Greek  derivation  of  the  scientific  name  is  from  tfraXatva,  a  whale  (which  in  Latin  be- 
comes balaena)  and  irrtpbv,  a  wing  or  fin  in  reference  to  the  dorsal  fin.  The  specific  term  phy- 
.s(///w  —  from  <#>6(7oXos,  meaning  a  blow-fish,  a  species  that  has  the  power  of  distending  itself 
with  air  —  seems  to  refer  to  the  blowing  or  spouting  of  the  whale,  as  from  a  pair  of  bellows 

(<t>i-ffa) . 

Vernacular  Names. 

All  the  whales  of  this  genus  have  an  adipose  fin  of  varying  size  on  the  after  part  of  the  back, 
hence  are  spoken  of  collectively  as  the  Finback  or  Finner  Whales.  In  the  present  species,  how- 
ever, this  fin  is  largest  of  all,  high  and  falcate,  affording  a  fairly  characteristic  field  mark.  On 
a'voimt  of  its  general  distribution  and  abundance,  this  whale  fairly  merits  the  name  Common 
Finback  Whale  bestowed  upon  it.  Among  seamen  it  is  also  spoken  of  as  the  Razorback  or  the 
Pike  Whale,  in  allusion  to  the  high  dorsal  fin,  or  'pike'  as  it  is  called  by  the  fisherfolk  of  the 
Knglish  coast  because  of  its  fancied  resemblance  to  that  ancient  weapon.  Another  term 
sometimes  used  by  the  English  fishermen  is  Sprat  Whale,  for  at  certain  times  of  the  year  it  is 
found  following  the  shoals  of  sprat  or  herring.  The  Scandinavian  word  'rorqual'  (from 
ntlir,  a  tube,  and  hval,  whale,  in  reference  to  the  folds  or  plaits  on  the  throat)  has  been  adopted 
into  our  tongue  for  the  Finbacks,  and  was  even  latinized  to  make  the  generic  term  Rorqualus 
by  Frederic  Cuvier.  Hence  the  term  Common  Rorqual  is  sometimes  used  for  this  species. 
Among  the  earlier  writers  the  Finback  was  often  referred  to  as  the  Jubartes,  or  Dubertus, 
which  was  further  shortened  to  Gibbar,  Jubart,  or  corrupted  to  Jupiter-fish.  The  origin  of 
these  names  is  perhaps  from  the  Latin  jubatus  meaning  'fringed  with  long  hair,'  a  term  there- 
fore, descriptive  of  the  long  hanging  bristles  of  the  whalebone  plates.  Another  and  equally 
probable  supposition  is  that  the  word  comes  from  the  provincial  name  Gibbar  of  the  Bis- 
cayne  fishermen,  which  is  in  Latin  gibbero  dor  so  (with  a  hump  on  the  back).  At  the  present 
time  these  names  seem  to  have  dropped  out  of  use. 

In  other  languages  the  name  commonly  applied  to  this  whale  is  an  equivalent  of  Finback 
or  Finwhale  thus  Finnfisch  or  Finwal  in  German.  The  bristles  or  hair-like  fringes  of  the 
whalebone  plates,  through  their  fancied  resemblance  to  a  hanging  beard,  have  also  given 


180  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

rise  to  the   name  Bartenwalen  (Bardehvalen  in  Norwegian)  or  Bearded  Whales  as  applied 
by  German  and  Scandinavian  writers  to  the  Finbacks. 

Description. 

Form. —  In  striking  contrast  to  the  Right  Whale  and  the  Humpback,  the  Fin  Whales  are 
of  elongate  and  graceful  shape  —  "clipper-built."  This  species,  in  particular,  is  of  exceed- 
ingly beautiful  lines,  the  head  elongated  and  narrower  in  proportion  to  its  width  than  in  the 
others  of  the  genus,  the  body  long  and  evenly  tapering  with  a  high  falcate  fin  on  the  back 
nearly  over  the  anus,  the  peduncle  or  '  small '  contracting  towards  the  flukes  with  an  elegant 
curve  in  both  dorsal  and  ventral  outlines.  The  great  lower  jaw  bows  outward  so  as  to  receive 
the  narrowing  upper  jaw  within  its  wall-like  lips,  and  protrudes  considerably  beyond  the  tip 
of  the  snout.  The  pectorals  or  flippers  are  not  especially  elongated,  in  fact,  are  comparatively 
short,  about  11  to  13  percent  of  the  total  length,  rather  narrow  and  pointed  with  the  anterior 
margin  and  distal  part  of  the  posterior  margin  much  straighter  than  in  the  Blue  Whale.  The 
flukes  are  distinctly  and  deeply  notched  at  the  middle  of  the  posterior  border;  their  anterior 
edge  is  gently  convex,  the  posterior  slightly  concave  below  the  tips,  then  swelling  to  a  gentle 
convexity  in  the  middle.  The  total  breadth  across  the  flukes  is  about  one  fifth  the  entire  length. 

The  eye  is  described  by  True  as  having  a  brown  iris  with  a  narrow  and  irregular  white 
border.  The  pupil  is  elliptical  and  with  its  long  axis  horizontal. 

The  ear  opening  is  directly  on  the  surface  some  thirty  inches  behind  the  eye  and  very 
slightly  below  it.  It  is  oblong  or  nearly  round  and  of  a  size  large  enough  to  admit  with  diffi- 
culty the  "point  of  the  little  finger"  (Struthers).  The  opening  narrows,  and  at  a  distance  of 
four  or  five  inches  from  the  exterior  is  "not  larger  than  a  crow  quill." 

Plicae. —  The  throat  is  marked  by  numerous  longitudinal  folds  or  plicae,  like  a  series 
of  ridges  and  valleys,  which  permit  of  considerable  extension  and  by  means  of  a  superficial 
layer  of  muscular  tissue  may  be  brought  together  again.  The  purpose  of  this  adaptation  is 
not  wholly  clear.  Possibly  it  allows  a  greater  extension  of  the  lungs,  or  more  probably,  it 
permits  a  great  quantity  of  water  to  be  engulfed,  from  which  the  small  animals  constituting 
the  food,  are  strained  out  by  the  whalebone  sieve,  on  closing  the  jaws.  Still  a  third  supposi- 
tion is  that  by  contraction  of  these  folds,  the  whale  is  able  to  decrease  its  bulk  and  sink  more 
easily  in  diving.  The  number  of  the  plicae  varies  greatly,  but  in  a  line  between  the  pectoral 
flippers,  averages  about  seventy  with  extremes  fifty-six  and  eighty  as  recorded  by  True  in  seven 
Newfoundland  individuals.  Not  only  do  they  run  longitudinally  from  the  lower  part  of  the 
lips  back  nearly  to  the  navel,  but  they  often  bifurcate,  coalesce,  or  send  off  side  branchlets, 
binding  the  entire  system  together.  Posteriorly  many  of  the  plicae  unite  again  so  that  the 
number  is  reduced  here.  There  are  also  a  few  short  furrows  between  the  corner  of  the  mouth 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  181 

and  the  pectoral  fin  and  above  and  below  the  root  of  the  latter.  The  breadth  of  the  abdominal 
ridges  is  about  two  inches  near  the  middle  of  their  length,  and  twice  that  posteriorly. 

Color. —  As  seen  in  life  at  close  range,  the  general  color  of  the  Finback  above,  is  dull  gray- 
ish brown  (sepia,  as  the  artist  Millais  says,  passing  into  brownish  gray  on  the  flanks).  This 
rapidly  darkens  after  death,  and  becomes  quite  black  after  a  short  exposure,  a  fact  which  has 
led  to  some  misconception  as  to  the  true  color.  The  lower  surfaces  of  the  body,  including  the 
ventral  side  of  the  pectorals  and  flukes,  and  also  the  right  mandible  and  more  or  less  of  the 
riijlit'liund  side  of  the  upper  lip,  are  white.  The  line  of  demarcation  between  the  dark  of  the 
upper  side  and  the  white  of  the  belly,  though  fairly  well  defined,  is  most  irregular,  and  the  one 
I i.-issos  gradually  into  the  other  at  the  sides.  On  the  left-hand  side  of  the  body,  the  dark  color 
commences  usually  at  or  just  back  from  the  point  of  the  jaws,  and  extends  part  way,  often 
nearly  to  the  midline,  including  the  summits  as  well  as  the  troughs  of  the  plicae  laterally,  but 
the  troughs  alone  more  ventrally,  while  in  the  mid-region  of  the  lower  side  these  furrows  too 
an-  white.  Just  in  advance  of  the  pectoral  there  is  usually  a  darker  tongue  or  two  of  color 
passing  ventrally,  where  both  ridge  and  trough  of  the  plicae  are  pigmented  over  a  narrow  area. 
A  somewhat  similar  tongue  of  dark  color  may  be  present  behind  the  pectoral,  invading  the 
whitish  of  the  sides.  There  may  also  be  irregular  dark  blotches  like  islands  on  the  sides  of 
the  throat,  and  usually  one  just  behind  the  anus. 

Usually  a  light  marking,  ill  defined,  from  the  region  of  the  ear  opening  of  the  right  side, 

'curves  strongly  upward,  then  downward,  and  terminates  at  or  above  the  anterior  insertion 

of  the  pectoral  fin.     On  the  left  side  another  light  line  usually  starts  at  the  eye,  and  may  run 

under  or  through  rather  than  over  the  ear,  and  terminate  at  the  insertion  of  the  pectoral" 

(True,  1904,  p.  124). 

Most  remarkable  is  what  appears  to  be  a  definite  and  constant  asymmetry,  in  that  the 
right  mandible,  and  commonly  the  tip  of  the  right  side  of  the  snout  are  white.  Even  the  whale- 
In  me  plates  at  the  anterior  end  of  the  right  side  are  likewise  white.  It  should  be  added  that 
the  white  of  the  lower  surface  of  the  pectorals  may  extend  around  to  their  front  edge  or  tip, 
but  that  on  the  flukes  the  white  does  not  quite  reach  the  margin  ventrally. 

Variations. —  A  number  of  specimens  are  described  in  detail  by  True  (1904,  p.  121)  to 
show  the  individual  variation  in  color  pattern.  Some  seem  paler  than  others,  due  to  the  vary- 
ing degree  to  which  the  gray  areas  encroach  on  the  belly  and  throat,  or  the  presence  of  streaks 
and  pat  dies  of  darker  color  about  the  anus  or  the  median  line  of  the  peduncle.  The  white 
of  the  right  side  of  the  head  may  include  the  entire  lip  from  the  tip  of  the  snout  to  the  angle 
of  the  mouth,  or  it  may  be  confined  to  the  anterior  third  or  fourth.  The  post-anal  gray  mark, 
may  in  some  cases  be  nearly  obsolete.  In  one  instance  the  white  of  the  right  side  of  the  head 
was  so  extensive  as  to  exclude  all  gray  color  from  the  ridges  in  front  of  the  pectoral.  On  the 
left  side,  the  mandible  is  usually  dark  nearly  to  its  tip  but  the  white  may  extend  to  about  the 


182 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


fourth  furrow  of  that  side.  In  one  individual  only  there  was  an  irregular  pure  white  blotch 
on  the  right  side  of  the  dorsal  fin  near  its  tip.  True  noted  in  some  individuals  a  darker  gray 
band  passing  from  above  the  eye  upward  and  backward  on  to  the  shoulder.  "There  is  commonly 
a  light  gray,  or  whitish,  mark  under  the  eye,  especially  on  the  right  side,  and  sometimes  a 
similar  mark  around  the  right  ear." 

In  occasional  specimens  the  brownish  gray  of  the  flanks  extends  on  to  the  under  surface, 
giving  it  a  darker  cast,  instead  of  the  clear  white  of  the  normal  coloration.  Such  individuals 
are  supposed  by  the  whalemen  to  be  hybrids  between  this  species  and  the  Blue  Whale,  and 
hence  are  called  Bastard  Whales.  But  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  two  species 
hybridize,  or  that  these  peculiar  individuals  are  more  than  variations  from  the  normal  pattern. 

Hair. —  The  Cetacea  have  lost  all  trace  of  a  hairy  covering  on  their  bodies,  but  on  certain 
parts  of  the  head  a  few  hairs  still  persist,  as  remnants  of  what  we  may  suppose  was  in  past 
ages,  a  scanty  supply,  similar  perhaps  to  that  of  the  modern  elephants.  In  the  toothed  whales, 
the  hairs  are  no  longer  found  in  adults,  though  young  or  foetal  specimens  may  show  a  few  in 
definite  spots.  Among  the  whalebone  whales,  however,  a  considerable  number  is  retained 
throughout  life.  These  are  restricted  to  definite  parts  of  the  outer  surfaces  of  the  jaws,  and 
correspond  roughly  to  the  vibrissae  or  'feelers'  of  certain  other  mammals.  They  are  most 
numerous  in  the  Right  Whales  and  in  the  Humpback,  but  in  the  Balaenopterae  are  fewer  in 
number  and  with  a  much  more  definite  distribution.  The  Common  Finback  possesses  two 
series  of  these  short  grayish  bristles  on  each  side  of  the  upper  jaw.  The  outer  row  begins 
about  over  the  angle  of  the  mouth,  and  runs  to  the  tip  of  the  snout.  It  consists  of  a  series  of 
some  eight  single  bristles  set  at  fairly  regular  intervals  parallel  with  the  outer  rim  of  the  rostrum 
and  a  short  distance  in  from  that  edge.  The  second  row  is  nearly  parallel  to  this,  of  eight  or 
nine  bristles,  but  is  closer  to  the  median  line.  It  commences  back  of  the  blowholes  and  passes 
anteriorly  along  the  median  ridge  of  the  snout,  to  a  point  some  distance  behind  the  tip.  On 
each  side  of  the  lower  jaws  are  two  other  series  of  short  whitish  bristles.  One  consists  of  some 
nine  in  all,  set  at  considerable  intervals  along  the  middle  of  the  outer  edge  of  the  ramus  to  a 
point  just  in  front  of  the  eye.  The  other  is  a  short  vertical  row  at  the  tip  of  the  jaw  on  each 
side,  made  up  of  about  fourteen  hairs,  rather  close  together  (Lillie,  1910). 

A  recent  investigator  (Japha,  1911)  has  made  a  microscopic  study  of  these  hairs.  He 
finds  that  their  structure  is  much  like  that  of  the  ordinary  mammalian  hair,  except  that  the 
sebaceous  glands  are  lacking.  They  have  a  well  developed  bulbus,  supplied  with  blood  vessels, 
and,  what  is  of  great  interest,  nerve  endings.  This  latter  fact  indicates  that  the  hairs  are 
sensory  and  as  had  been  previously  suggested,  are  probably  tactile  organs,  whose  function  may 
be  to  indicate  the  presence  of  the  minute  crustaceans  or  small  fishes  on  which  these  whales 
feed. 

Baleen. —  The  baleen  or  whalebone  plates  are  about  430  in  number  counting  along  the 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  183 

external  side  of  the  mouth,  where  they  are  longest.  Toward  the  median  line  of  the  palate, 
however,  there  are  some  four  ranks  of  smaller,  narrower  plates  so  that  the  whole  series  forms 
a  gradual  slope  decreasing  from  the  exterior  to  the  median  line  of  the  mouth.  The  lingual 
side  of  these  triangular  plates  is  fringed  with  long  bristles  that  form  a  matted  and  tangled 
mass,  whereby  the  minute  crustaceans  on  which  the  whale  feeds,  are  strained  out  as  by  a  sieve, 
from  the  water  taken  into  the  mouth.  Delage,  who  made  a  careful  study  of  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  baleen  plates,  found  the  external  row  to  consist  of  some  430  plates,  then  passing 
toward  the  center  of  the  mouth,  came  two  ranks  of  shorter  and  smaller  plates,  each  of  about 
the  same  number  as  the  first.  Then  followed  a  fourth  rank,  consisting  of  twice  as  many  plates 
and  finally  a  fifth  rank,  whose  plates  are  smallest  of  all  in  size  but  from  four  to  six  times  as 
numerous  as  those  of  the  first. 

The  color  of  the  plates  and  of  their  bristles  is  characteristic.  The  plates  themselves  are 
generally  particolored  or  streaked  vertically.  At  their  outer  edge  they  are  dark  gray,  or 
purplish,  varied  internally  with  streaks  of  white,  but  toward  the  posterior  end  of  the  series 
are  more  uniformly  dark  gray.  On  the  right-hand  side,  a  large  number  of  the  anterior  plates 
an-  white,  or  white  externally  and  more  or  less  streaked  with  gray  internally.  As  many  as 
half  the  total  number  of  plates  on  the  right  side  may  be  white,  producing  thus  an  extraordinary 
asymmetry  in  color,  for  the  plates  of  the  left-hand  side  are  dark  throughout  externally.  The 
coarse  bristle-like  fringe,  as  seen  when  looking  into  the  mouth,  is  a  dull  white  or  yellowish  white 
ma-s,  more  or  less  curly  and  tangled.  The  longest  blades  of  whalebone,  exclusive  of  the  bristles, 
measure  usually  from  20  to  24  inches;  the  latter  dimension  is  unusual,  however,  and  is  given 
liy  True  (1904)  for  a  very  large  specimen  of  70  feet  8  inches,  killed  at  Newfoundland. 

External  Measurements. —  The  total  length  of  an  adult  Common  Finback  is  usually  about 
iiO  to  65  feet,  and  though  Cocks  has  recorded  one  as  long  as  80  feet,  it  is  not  clear  that  he  per- 
sonally measured  it  or  that  the  measurement  was  in  a  straight  line  from  snout  to  caudal  notch. 
True  (1904)  has  tabulated  the  lengths  of  twenty-five  specimens  measured  by  him  at  Newfound- 
land. Of  these  the  largest  male  was  65  feet  long  (19.81  meters),  the  largest  female  70  feet 
S  inches  (21.54  meters).  The  smallest  of  fifteen  females  found  containing  a  foetus  (and  so  sex- 
ually mature)  was  61  feet  10  inches  (18.85  meters).  Cocks,  however,  records  a  female  of  55 
t'eet  7  inches  (16.94  meters)  containing  a  foetus,  and  Millais  a  fifty-foot  female  also  with  a  foetus. 
Tliis  last  is  probably  near  the  minimum  size  of  an  adult.  The  data  at  hand  do  not  warrant 
the  assumption  that  the  females  grow  to  a  larger  size  than  the  males,  though  observations  at 
the  Newfoundland  and  Norwegian  stations  show  from  two  to  four  feet  greater  average  length 
for  the  females  captured. 

The  only  available  measurements  of  this  whale  based  on  a  New  England  example  are 
those  given  by  Dr.  Thomas  Dwight  in  volume  2  of  the  Society's  Memoirs.  These  are  incom- 
plete, however,  and  in  the  following  table  I  have  given  in  addition  to  these  the  dimensions 


184 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


of  the  largest  male  and  female  recorded  by  True  (1904,  p.  116)  from  Newfoundland,  to  which 
I  have  added  the  relative  percent  that  each  measurement  bears  to  the  total  length. 


External  Measurements  of  the  Common  Finback. 


Gloucester,  Mass. 

9 

Newfoundland 

d" 

Newfoundland 
9 

Ft.      In. 

Meters 

% 

Ft.      In. 

Meters 

% 

Ft.       In. 

Meters 

% 

Total  length,  snout  to  notch  of  flukes 

48      0 

14.63 

100 

61       2 

18.64 

100 

70      8 

21.54 

100 

Tip  of  snout  to  eye 

9    8 

2.95 

20.1 

12    6.5 

3.81 

20.4 

14       1 

4.29 

19.9 

"     "      "      "  blowhole  (center) 

— 

11     3 

3.43 

18.4 

12     10 

3.91 

18.1 

"    "      "      "  ant.  insertion  of  pec- 

toral 

14    7 

4.44 

30.3 

"     "      "      "  post,  insertion  of  pec- 

toral 

— 

20    4         6.19 

33.2 

23      9 

7.24 

33.6 

"     "      "      "  ant.  base  of  dorsal  fin 

36    7 

11.15 

76.2 

43  10 

13.36 

71.6 

49     10 

15.19 

70.5 

Notch  of  flukes  to  anus 

14    3 

4.34 

29.6 

17    0         5.18 

27.7 

20      2 

6.15 

28.5 

"      "       "  clitoris 

15    6 

4.72 

32.2 

— 

22      5 

6.83 

31.7 

"       "      "       "  penis  (center  of 

orifice) 

— 

21     9 

6.63 

35.5 

— 

"        "       "       "  navel 

20  11 

6.37 

43.5 

26    7         8.1 

43.4 

31     10 

9.70 

45.0 

Length  of  pectoral  from  head  of 

humerus 

5    4 

1.62 

11.0 

7    4 

2.23 

11.9 

8    10 

2.69 

12.4 

"        "        "            "     tip  to  post. 

insertion 

— 

5    0 

1.52 

8.1 

6      0 

1.83 

8.4 

Greatest  breadth  of  pectoral 

1     4 

0.40 

2.7 

1  11 

0.58 

3.1 

2      0 

0.61 

2.8 

Height  of  dorsal  fin 

1     1.7 

0.35 

2.3 

1     6.5 

0.47 

2.5 

1     19 

0.53 

2.4 

Length  of  base  of  dorsal  fin 

2     7 

0.78 

5.3 

3    8 

1.12 

6.0 

3      8 

1.12 

5.1 

Center  of  eye  to  center  of  ear  opening 

2    3 

0.68 

4.6 

3     1.5 

0.95 

5.0 

3      4 

1.02 

4.7 

Breadth  across  flukes 

— 

15    2 

4.62 

24.7 

15      2 

4.62 

21.4 

Length  of  blowholes 

0    6 

0.15 

1.0 

Weight. —  The  specific  gravity  of  a  Fin  Whale  is  slightly  more  than  that  of  sea  water  so 
that  when  freshly  killed  it  sinks,  but  the  generation  of  gases  due  to  decomposition  eventually 
brings  it  to  the  surface.  The  weight  of  a  60-foot  specimen,  according  to  Murie  (1865)  was 
estimated  at  45  tons.  Guldberg  (1907)  has  suggested  a  method  for  obtaining  the  approxi- 
mate weight  of  a  whale  by  means  of  a  mathematical  formula.  The  body  is  likened  to  a  solid 
produced  by  placing  two  cones  of  equal  diameter  base  to  base,  the  height  of  the  posterior  cone 
twice  that  of  the  anterior.  If  the  greatest  diameter  (D)  (3  the  circumference)  and  the  total 
length,  are  known  it  is  possible  to  obtain  the  volume  of  a  cone  by  the  formula  (V  =  3  I  D2L). 
This,  if  the  specific  gravity  be  assumed  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  water,  gives  also  the  weight. 
Guldberg  averaged  the  lengths  and  girths  of  twenty-one  Finbacks  ranging  between  51  and 
68  feet  long,  and  from  these  obtained  a  mean  of  62.5  feet  (19.45  meters)  for  the  length  and  29.6 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  185 

feet  (2.99  meters)  for  the  greatest  girth  or  the  diameter.  Applying  these  figures  in  the  formula 
he  obtained  45.8  tons  or  45,800  kilo  for  the  weight,  which  accords  remarkably  with  Murie's 
figure  for  a  60-foot  Finback.  According  to  Wilcox,  the  60-foot  whales  killed  in  the  Gulf  of 
Maine  in  1885,  weighed  about  25  tons  each,  but  it  is  not  stated  how  this  figure  was  obtained. 

Auditory  Apparatus. —  An  interesting  recent  account  of  the  internal  ear  is  given  by  Lillie 
(1910,  p.  775)  wrho  dissected  this  organ  in  an  adult  Finback  taken  on  the  Irish  coast.  The 
auditory  canal  is  continued  backward  from  the  minute  external  opening  until  it  reaches  the 
posterior  border  of  the  squamosal  bone.  It  then  turns  inward,  and  with  slightly  increased 
diameter  (1.5  inches)  follows  along  the  posterior  edge  of  the  squamosal  to  reach  the  tympanic 
membrane,  which,  curiously,  is  sac-like  in  shape  somewhat  like  the  finger  of  a  glove.  This 
sac  is  about  four  inches  long;  its  blind  end  lies  in  the  auditory  canal,  and  its  open  end  joins 
the  wall  of  this  canal,  and  by  a  ligament  connects  with  the  malleus,  which  is  fused  with  the 
oval  tympanic  bone.  The  semicircular  canals  in  the  middle  ear  are  present  but  small.  The 
eustachian  tube  is  about  one -foot  in  length  and  connects  the  cavity  of  the  pterygoid  fossa 
with  the  chamber  at  the  junction  of  the  nasal  passages.  There  is  a  large  plug  of  ear  wax  in 
the  tube  of  the  external  auditory  meatus.  It  is  not  certain  that  sound  is  received  through  the 
ear,  though  the  tympanic  bones  may  respond  to  vibrations  through  the  water.  Lillie  suggests 
that  the  curious  tympanic  membrane,  shaped  like  a  glove-finger,  may  act  as  a  pressure  gauge, 
by  coming  in  direct  contact  with  water  in  the  external  ear  passage,  and  thereby  apprise  the 
whale  of  its  near  approach  to  the  surface  when  it  rises  to  spout. 

Musculature. —  The  muscular  anatomy  of  the  Finback  Whale  probably  differs  little  in  gen- 
eral from  that  of  the  Little  Piked  Whale  as  described  by  Carte  and  MacAlister  (1868). 
Delage  (1885)  describes  the  large  panniculus  which  covers  all  the  anterior  half  of  the  lower 
portion  of  the  body,  beginning  anteriorly  on  the  arch  of  the  jaws  and  extending  back  to  the 
umbilicus.  It  thus  corresponds  roughly  with  the  area  of  the  external  plicae.  Superficially  it 
is  strongly  united  to  the  blubber,  especially  on  the  throat  where  it  seems  inserted  into  the 
skin,  and  by  aponeurosis. 

Struthers  (1871,  p.  Ill)  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  make  a  careful  dissection  of  the 
muscles  of  the  hand.  These  are  reduced  to  three  on  the  inner  or  flexor  aspect  and  a  single 
one  on  the  outer  or  extensor  aspect  of  the  hand.  The  latter  corresponds  to  the  extensor  com- 
mit n  is  digitorum.  It  arises  from  the  inner  aspect  of  both  radius  and  ulna  and  from  the  apo- 
neurosis between  them.  It  becomes  tendinous,  and  opposite  the  middle  of  the  carpus  sends 
off  four  tendons,  one  to  each  digit.  Of  the  three  flexor  muscles,  the  flexor  carpi  ulnaris  has 
the  usual  relations,  arising  from  the  olecranon  cartilage  and  ulna  near  it,  and  inserting  by 
tendon  into  the  pisiform  cartilage.  The  flexor  digitorum  ulnaris  is  the  largest  of  the  muscles, 
arising  along  the  center  of  the  forearm,  partly  from  the  end  of  the  humerus,  ulna,  and  inter- 
tissue.  Its  tendinous  expansion  finally  gives  off  four  branches  one  to  each  digit,  but 


186 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


that  to  digit  I  joins  the  tendon  of  the  remaining  flexor,  flexor  digitorum  radialis  (or  longus 
pollicis)  whose  origin  is  along  the  proximal  two  thirds  of  the  radius  and  the  interosseous  mem- 
brane. The  presence  of  this  muscle  is  in  support  of  Kukenthal's  contention  that  digit  I  is 
retained,  and  digit  III  is  the  missing  one.  The  function  of  these  muscles  is  doubtless  to  give 
stiffness  to  the  paddle. 

Visceral  Anatomy. —  An  account  of  the  anatomy  of  a  male  Finback  stranded  on  the 
English  coast,  was  published  by  Murie  in  1865.  It  was  an  adult,  60  feet  long,  with  the  epi- 
physes  of  the  bones  fused.  The  oesophagus  is  described  as  7  or  8  feet  long,  and  of  such  a 
diameter  that  "the  closed  fist  could  be  passed  with  ease  through  any  part  of  its  course."  In 
Newfoundland  specimens,  True  (1904,  p.  128)  found  the  width  of  the  gullet  to  be  about  7  inches. 
The  stomach  consists  of  four  separate  compartments,  which  communicate  by  round  and  some- 
what constricted  openings.  The  first  division  is  large  and  rounded  like  a  great  bag,  some 
99  inches  on  the  greater  curvature;  the  second  is  more  cylindrical,  opening  from  the  upper 
part  of  the  first  division,  and  is  about  97  inches  long.  Its  walls  are  slightly  thicker  and  in  both 
are  plicated.  The  third  and  fourth  divisions  are  shorter  and  cylindrical.  Immediately  below 
the  last  cavity  of  the  stomach  the  hepatic  duct  enters.  The  total  length  of  the  small  intestine 
of  Murie's  specimen  was  248  feet  or  four  times  the  length  of  the  whale.  The  large  intestine 
measured  about  40  feet.  There  is  no  caecum. 

A  remarkable  adaptation  to  aquatic  life  is  found  in  the  Cetacea  whereby  a  projection 
of  the  epiglottis  extends  upward  from  the  pharynx  or  throat  as  a  tube  into  the  posterior  narial 
opening  of  the  skull,  so  that  a  continuous  passage  is  formed  from  the  blowholes  to  the  lungs, 
and  thus  effectually  prevents  the  entrance  of  water  into  the  lungs  from  the  mouth.  A  similar 
structure  occurs  in  the  Ungulates,  so  that,  as  in  the  horse,  they  cannot  breathe  through  the 
mouth.  In  the  whalebone  whales,  this  extension  of  the  air  tube  is  about  in  the  center  of  the 
pharynx  so  that  in  swallowing,  the  small  fish  or  minute  crustaceans  pass  on  either  side.  In 
the  toothed  whales,  as  Lillie  (1910)  has  most  suggestively  shown,  the  larger  size  of  the  food 
particles  has  caused  the  displacement  of  the  epiglottis  to  the  left-hand  side  of  the  gullet,  leaving 
a  single  large  opening  for  the  passage  of  food.  The  marked  bilateral  asymmetry  of  the  skull 
in  the  Odontoceti,  he  believes  is  a  result  of  this  displacement. 

Skeleton. —  The  skull  of  the  Common  Finback  (Plate  11,  fig.  2)  differs  conspicuously 
from  that  of  the  other  species  of  the  genus  found  on  our  coast,  in  its  long  and  narrow  rostrum, 
which  tapers  evenly  to  a  relatively  sharp  snout.  True  has  shown  that  the  average  breadth 
of  the  rostrum  at  the  middle  is  barely  a  fifth  of  the  total  length  of  the  skull.  In  museum  speci- 
mens the  drying  of  the  bones  often  causes  the  tips  of  the  maxillaries  and  intermaxillaries  to 
spread  apart,  but  the  long  and  tapering  outline  of  the  former,  especially  as  seen  from  below, 
is  marked.  Viewed  from  above  the  frontals  appear  somewhat  trapezoidal  in  outline;  the 
hinder  margin  forms  nearly  a  right  angle  with  the  long  axis  of  the  skull,  and  the  external  margin 


PLATE  11. 

Outlines  of  the  crania  of  New  England  whalebone  whales,  from  above. 

Fig.  1.    North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  (Eubdaena  glacialis).     After  the  photograph  by  True  (1904, 

Plate  42,  fig.  1)  of  a  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  specimen. 
Fig.  2.     Common  Finback  Whale  (Bcdaenoptera  physalus).     After  the  photograph  by  True  (1904, 

Plate  1,  fig.  3)  of  a  Cape  Cod  specimen  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  no.  16039. 
Fig.  3.     Blue  Whale  (Balaenoptera  musculus).     After  van  Beneden  and  Gervais,  Oste"ographie  des 

C&acea,  1868-79,  Plate  12-13,  fig.  25. 
Fig.  4.     Little  Piked  Whale  (Bdaenopiera  acuto-rostrata).     After  the  photograph  by  True  (1904,  Plate 

22,  fig.  1)  of  a  specimen  from  Harwichport,  Mass.,  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  no.  20931. 
Fig.  5.     Atlantic  Humpback  Whale  (Megaptera  nodosa).     After  the  photograph  by  True  (1904,  Plate 

29,  fig.  2)  of  a  specimen  from  Cape  Cod  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  no.  21492. 

Abbreviations: — /,  orbital  process  of  frontal;    i,  intermaxillary;    m,  maxillary;    n,  nasal;    s,  squamosal; 
so,  supraoccipital. 


MEMOIRS  BOSTON  Soc.  NAT.  HIST.  VOL.  8.  No.  2. 


PLATE  11. 


SKULLS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALF.S. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  187 

is  at  nearly  a  right  angle  to  this.  The  front  edge  of  this  great  bony  plate  slopes  forward  and 
inward  forming  an  obtuse  angle  with  the  outer  edge.  The  occipital  bone  is  also  somewhat 
characteristic.  Its  greatest  length  forms  about  40  percent  of  the  total  length  of  the  skull. 
At  the  vertex  of  the  skull  its  sides  are  nearly  parallel,  or  only  slightly  divergent,  then  spread 
laterally  to  form  the  posterior  wall  of  the  cranium.  A  well  marked  ridge  is  present  in  the 
middle  line  of  the  occipital.  The  shape  of  the  nasals  varies  slightly,  but  as  seen  from  above, 
they  are  usually  deeply  notched,  and  the  median  edges  approximated  to  form  a  sharp  point. 
A  narrow  prolongation  of  the  intermaxillary  reaches  to  about  the  middle  of  the  nasals,  and  a 
larger  process  of  the  maxillary  extends  upward,  expanding  slightly,  to  abut  against  the  vertex 
of  the  occipital.  There  is  much  individual  variation  in  the  shape  and  proportions  of  the  vari- 
ous bones,  and  it  is  not  yet  clear  how  much  of  this  is  due  to  age.  The  lower  jaw  has  a  promi- 
nent coronoid  process,  which  is  lacking  in  the  Right  Whales. 

In  the  following  table  of  skull  measurements  those  in  the  first  and  second  columns  are 
the  dimensions  (in  English  inches  and  mm.  respectively)  given  by  Dwight  (1872)  for  the  skull 
from  Gloucester,  Mass.,  in  the  Society's  Museum,  and  in  the  third  column  these  same  dimen- 
sions expressed  in  percentages  of  the  total  length  of  the  skull.  The  percentages  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  columns  are  those  given  in  True's  (1904)  monograph  for  two  specimens  from  Cape 
Cod  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum.  All  three  specimens  are  immature,  and  it  is  unfortunate 
that  no  measurements  of  a  fully  adult  American  specimen  are  available. 

The  percentages  for  the  important  measurements  of  these  three  skulls  show  a  relatively 
close  agreement,  and  indicate  to  some  degree  the  range  of  individual  variation. 

The  hyoid  bones  are  large  and  somewhat  inflated  in  outline.  The  form  is  rather  charac- 
teristic in  the  genus.  The  basihyal  is  flattened  and  has  usually  a  deep  notch  at  its  posterior 
end  on  either  side  of  which  articulates  one  of  the  stylohyals.  Fused  with  the  basihyal  are  the 
thyrohyals,  which  are  flattened,  and  curve  only  slightly  upward.  The  two  sutures  between 
these  three  component  parts  are  usually  indicated  even  in  adult  specimens.  In  the  Society's^ 
specimen,  the  basihyal  was  4.75  in  the  median  line,  while  the  distance  between  the  tips  of 
the  thyrohyals  in  a  straight  line  was  24.5  inches.  The  stylohyals  were  each  about  15  inches 

long. 

The  total  number  of  vertebrae  in  the  Society's  specimen  is  63,  which  appears  to  be 
the  maximum  number  yet  recorded.  Since  unusual  care  was  taken  in  the  preservation  of 
the  small  terminal  bones,  it  is  probable  that  this  number  is  correct  for  the  specimen.  The 
formula  is:  7  cervicals,  15  (or  possibly  16)  dorsals,  15  (or  perhaps  14)  lumbars,  26  caudals 
=  03.  In  the  Society's  skeleton  the  15th  pair  of  ribs  is  so  long  as  to  presuppose  that  there 
may  have  been  an  additional  shorter  pair  of  floating  ribs,  that  became  lost  in  the  course  of 
preparation.  In  this  case  the  total  number  of  dorsals  would  be  16,  as  in  a  skeleton  from  New- 
foundland recorded  by  True.  Skeletons  with  14  and  15  rib-bearing  vertebrae  are  usual. 


188 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Cranial  Measurements  of  Common  Finback. 


Gloucester  Whale 

B.  S.  N.  H. 

Cape  Cod 

Cape  Cod 

Inches 

Millimeters 

% 

% 

% 

Length  of  skull  (in  a  straight  line) 

144 

3657 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

Breadth  of  condyles 

11.75 

298.4 

8.1 

"  exoccipitals 

44 

1117.6 

30.5 

Greatest  breadth  of  skull  (across  squamosals) 

67 

1701.8 

46.5 

48.0 

47.0 

Length  of  supraoccipital   (along  curve,  just  avoiding 

median  ridge) 

29 

736.6 

20.1 

Length  of  orbital  process  of  frontal  (along  lower  surface 

from  palatal) 

27 

685.8 

18.7 

Breadth  of  orbital  process  of  frontal  at  base 

26 

660.4 

18.0 

"         "       "            "        "        "      at  outer  end 

16 

406.4 

11.1 

10.4 

11.3 

Length  of  nasals  in  median  line 

6 

152.4 

4.2 

5.0 

5.4 

Combined  breadth  of  nasals  at  base 

3.75 

95.2 

2.6 

"               "        "       "     distally 

9.5 

241.3 

6.6 

5.2 

4.9 

Length  of  rostrum 

100 

2540 

69.4 

67.2 

65.2 

Breadth  of  maxillaries  across  orbital  process  (following 

curve) 

71 

1803.4 

49.3 

Breadth  of  rostrum  at  base 

50.5 

1282.6 

35.0 

«         "         «         "middle 

28 

711.2 

19.4 

20 

19.4 

"  maxillary  at  same  point 

9 

228.6 

6.2 

"  premaxillary  at  same  point 

4.25 

107.9 

2.8 

Length  of  lower  jaw  in  a  straight  line 

137.5 

3492.5 

95.4 

94.4 

Height  at  coronoid  process 

17.37 

441.2 

12.0 

"        «  middle 

10 

254 

6.9 

7.9 

True  records  three  Cape  Cod  skeletons,  of  which  two  had  14  and  the  other  15  ribs,  but  it  is 
possible  that  a  terminal  floating  rib  has  been  lost  in  some  of  these. 

The  cervical  vertebrae  are  all  separate  from  each  other.  The  great  atlas  has  a  single 
large  and  bluntly  tapering  transverse  process  at  the  upper  corner  of  each  side,  and  its  anterior 
face  bears  the  two  facets  for  articulation  with  the  occipital  condyles.  These  facets  are  slightly 
concave,  somewhat  elliptical  with  their  long  axes  nearly  vertical.  The  second  to  fifth  cervicals 
have  a  long  transverse  process  from  the  dorsal  and  one  from  the  ventral  corner  of  the  centrum 
on  each  side.  These  two  unite  distally  to  enclose  the  large  vertebrarterial  canal,  which  varies 
much  in  its  diameter  but  is  usually  completely  ringed  to  the  sixth  vertebra.  In  this  vertebra 
the  ventral  transverse  process  is  but  slightly  developed,  and  no  longer  unites  with  the  dorsal 
process.  In  the  Humpback  Whale,  the  transverse  processes  are  much  less  developed  so  that 
the  canal  is  usually  open  all  its  length.  On  the  third  and  fourth  cervicals,  the  transverse 
process  slants  strongly  backward.  A  slight  dorsal  crest  marks  the  median  line  of  these  ver- 
tebrae. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  189 

The  dorsal  vertebrae  have  high  spines  which  culminate  in  size  at  the  fore  part  of  the 
trunk.  The  first  four  incline  slightly  forward,  a  few  are  then  straight,  and  the  regaining 
dorsal  spines  have  a  slight  backward  tendency.  The  transverse  processes  arise  from  nearly 
the  whole  length  of  the  centrum;  the  anteriormost  are  from  the  upper  part  of  the  centrum, 
rather  stout,  and  elliptical  in  section,  ending  bluntly  with  articular  surfaces  for  the  attach- 
ment of  ribs.  Passing  posteriorly,  these  processes  become  more  flattened  and  broader,  widely 
expanded  distally.  At  the  same  time  they  arise  successively  lower  on  the  centrum  till  on  the 
lumbars  they  are  below  the  level  of  its  middle. 

The  neural  spine  decreases  in  size  on  the  lumbar  and  caudal  vertebrae,  and  last  appears 
on  the  52d  vertebra  in  the  Society's  specimen,  and  on  the  50th  and  51st  respectively  in  two 
from  Cape  Cod  (True,  1904).  The  last  trace  of  the  transverse  process  is  on  the  49th  vertebra 
in  the  Gloucester  skeleton  and  on  the  48th  in  one  from  Cape  Cod  in  the  U.  S.  National 
Museum.  The  first  perforated  transverse  process  (diapophysis)  is  on  the  45th  and  43d  ver- 
tebra respectively  in  these  two  skeletons. 

In  the  mounted  skeleton  from  Gloucester,  the  rapid  tapering  of  the  terminal  vertebrae 
is  rather  striking.  The  last  one  of  all  is  practically  round,  somewhat  flattened  from  front 
to  back,  about  0.87  inches  in  diameter  and  0.62  inches  long.  Measurements  of  the  vertebrae 
are  given  in  detail  for  this  specimen  by  Dwight  (1872,  p.  214). 

The  chevron  bones  come  one  between  each  two  caudal  vertebrae,  except  the  terminal  three 
or  so.  They  are  roughly  V-shaped,  the  first  one  small,  the  second  much  larger,  and  those 
following  form  a  decreasing  series.  On  account  of  the  small  size  of  the  terminal  ones,  which 
are  more  or  less  cartilaginous  in  immature  individuals,  it  is  difficult  without  special  care  to 
be  certain  of  the  exact  number.  Hence  it  is  that  museum  specimens  are  often  incomplete  in 
respect  to  these  bones.  There  are  but  sixteen  preserved  in  the  Society's  mounted  skeleton 
from  Gloucester.  Van  Beneden  gives  twenty-one  as  the  number  in  a  European  specimen 
specially  dissected  by  himself. 

The  ribs,  as  previously  noted,  are  fifteen  or  sixteen  in  number.  Probably  sixteen  is  the 
normal  series,  with  the  last  one  of  all  a  small  floating  rib,  imbedded  in  the  flesh  and  but  loosely 
attached  to  the  vertebra.  Where  fifteen  are  recorded,  it  seems  likely  that  this  small  rib  has 
been  overlooked.  A  very  interesting  anomaly  is  occasionally  found,  in  the  shape  of  a  two- 
headed  first  rib.  This  character  was  made  by  J.  E.  Gray  the  chief  basis  for  his  genera  Sib- 
baldius  and  Hunterius,  but  Sir  William  Turner  (1871)  showed  that,  as  in  man,  this  bifurcated 
rib  represents  two  fused  ribs,  of  which  the  first  is  a  cervical  rib,  articulating  with  the  trans- 
verse process  of  the  seventh  or  last  neck  vertebra,  and  the  second  is  the  normal  first  rib,  articu- 
lating with  the  first  dorsal  vertebra.  The  articulating  heads  of  such  anomalous  vertebrae 
lie  at  different  angles  to  the  main  shaft  of  the  rib.  All  the  ribs  are  joined  to  their  respective 
vertebrae  by  a  single  articulation  at  the  end  of  the  transverse  process  of  the  vertebra.  This 


190  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

corresponds  to  the  tubercular  articulation  of  other  mammals,  for  the  second  articulation  by 
a  stout  rounded  head  between  two  neighboring  segments  of  the  spinal  column  is  wholly  lost. 
Vestiges  of  this  head  or  capitular  portion  appear  in  some  of  the  anteriormost  vertebrae  (the 
second  and  third  in  the  Society's  specimen)  as  short  prolongations  extending  inward  beyond 
the  tubercular  surface  of  attachment.  A  second  noteworthy  peculiarity  of  the  ribs  is  that 
the  first  pair  only  are  united  to  the  sternum,  and  this  union  is  ligamentous.  The  result  of  this 
loose  attachment  is  that  the  thoracic  basket  formed  by  the  ribs  must  be  capable  of  more  or 
less  expansion,  which  is  in  correlation  with  the  accordion-like  plaiting  of  the  throat.  Possibly 
this  serves  as  an  aid  in  expanding  the  cavernous  bag  of  the  great  mouth  so  as  to  engulf  as  large 
a  quantity  of  water  as  may  be,  from  which  by  closing  the  mouth  and  compressing  the  throat, 
the  food  is  strained  out  by  the  baleen.  Possibly,  also,  an  increased  lung  capacity  is  obtained 
so  that  a  longer  stay  under  water  may  be  made  while  the  whale  seeks  its  food.  Yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Sperm  Whale  which  dives  deeper  and  stays  down  for  longer  periods  shows  no 
such  adaptation,  but  has  strong  sternal  ribs  uniting  the  true  ribs  to  the  sternum. 

In  the  Finback,  the  anterior  ribs  are  broadest,  but  increase  in  length  and  become  nar- 
rower and  rounder  in  section.  The  sixth  and  seventh  are  the  longest,  and  in  the  Society's 
specimen  (immature)  are  respectively  75  and  74.25  inches  in  length  along  the  curve. 

The  sternum  is  represented  by  the  anterior  segment  only,  the  manubrium,  for  the  seg- 
ments which  in  most  mammals  follow  this  to  form  the  breast  bone,  have  quite  disappeared 
in  the  baleen  whales.  The  outline  of  this  bone  in  immature  individuals  is  a  trefoil,  with  two 
broad  anterior  lobes  and  a  narrow  posterior  part  on  either  side  of  which  come  the  first  pair 
of  ribs.  A  deep  median  notch  separates  the  two  anterior  wings  and  indicates  the  original 
formation  of  the  bone  from  two  centers,  one  on  each  side.  With  age,  the  increasing  ossifica- 
tion usually  closes  this  notch,  though  often  leaving  a  small  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  bone, 
and  the  front  end  is  developed  into  a  median  point,  while  at  the  same  time  the  narrow  poste- 
rior portion  is  slightly  lengthened,  producing  a  somewhat  cruciform  bone.  There  is  consid- 
erable individual  variation  in  the  outline  as  well  as  variation  due  to  age.  Figures  showing 
the  form  of  this  bone  in  a  number  of  specimens,  are  published  by  True  (1904,  pp.  140,  141, 
figs.  8-31). 

The  fore  limb  is  developed  in  all  whales,  and  its  skeleton  consists  of  the  scapula,  arm, 
and  hand  bones  as  in  other  mammals,  though  these  are  much  modified.  The  scapula  is  large, 
fan-shaped,  longer  than  high,  with  a  broadly  convex  dorsal  outline.  This  outline  is  not  an 
even  curve,  but  is  much  flattened  at  the  summit,  and  drops  away  suddenly  at  the  posterior 
third.  The  spinous  process  is  low  and  feebly  developed,  and  differs  remarkably  from  its  usual 
condition  among  mammals  in  that  it  is  very  far  forward,  so  as  almost  to  coincide  with  the 
anterior  edge  of  the  scapula.  The  acromion  process  given  off  at  its  base  is  large  and  projects 
forward  characteristically.  The  humerus  is  relatively  very  short  and  stout  with  large  articular 


COMMON  FIX  HACK  WHALE. 


191 


surfaces.  The  radius  and  ulna  are  flattened  and  exceed  the  humerus  in  length.  The  elbow 
is  well  developed  as  a  backward  prolongation  of  the  ulna  extending  up  a  short  distance  along 
the  posterior  side  of  the  humerus.  The  bones  of  the  wrist  are  somewhat  poorly  developed 
as  ossifications  in  the  great  mass  of  cartilage  corresponding  externally  to  the  base  of  the  flipper 
or  pectoral  limb.  In  an  adult  whale  there  are  six  of  these  bones  arranged  in  two  rows:  four 
in  the  proximal  and  two  in  the  distal  row.  Those  of  the  first  row  are  probably  homologous 
with  the  radiale,  intermedium,  and  ulnare  of  the  typical  vertebrate  carpus  with  a  large  pisi- 
form at  the  external  side;  possibly,  however,  the  first  represents  a  fused  prepollex  and  radiale, 
as  there  is  some  evidence  of  two  centers  of  ossification  in  this  bone.  The  homology  of  the 
two  small  bones  of  the  distal  row  is  of  great  interest.  In  Balaenoptera  as  in  Megaptera,  there 
are  but  four  fingers  in  the  hand,  and  it  has  been  generally  assumed  that,  as  is  usual  in  cases 
of  digit  reduction,  it  is  the  thumb  that  has  become  lost.  Kiikenthal  (1893),  however,  made 
the  remarkable  discovery  that  it  is  probably  the  third  digit  instead.  For  in  at  least  two 
embryo  Finbacks  he  found  loosely  imbedded  in  the  tissue  between  the  second  and  third  fingers, 


TEXT-FIGS.  5,  6,  7. —  Shoulder  blades  of  whalebone  whales  (from  True,  1904). 
5. —  North  Atlantic  Right  Wha'e  (Eubalaena  gladalis). 
6. —  Common  Finback  Whalr  (Balaeiioplera  physalus). 
7. —  Humpback  Whale  (Megaptera  norlosa). 

several  vestigial  phalanges  which,  he  urges,  probably  represent  the  true  third  or  middle  finger. 
That  this  contention  is  correct,  is  additionally  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  median  nerve  of  the 
arm  gives  off  two  branches  to  the  space  between  the  present  second  and  third  fingers.  In 
five-fingered  animals  there  is  one  branch  to  each  interspace,  hence  the  presence  of  two  branches 
in  this  case  points  to  the  former  existence  of  another  digit  here.  It  follows,  that  since  only 
the  tip  of  this  digit  is  still  left  in  occasional  specimens,  its  disappearance  must  have  begun  at 
the  base,  hence  the  corresponding  carpale  3  may  be  considered  lost.  Leboucq  has  described 
a  double  ossification  in  the  inner  of  the  two  distal  carpalia,  so  it  is  considered  by  Kiikenthal 
that  this  single  bone  represents  a  fusion  of  carpalia  1  and  2.  The  other  existing  bone  is  there- 
fore either  the  carpale  4  or  a  fusion  of  the  carpalia  4  and  5  of  the  primitive  vertebrate  hand. 
There  is,  however,  no  positive  evidence  that  it  represents  a  fusion  of  two  elements. 


192  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Accepting  Kiikenthal's  conclusion  that  the  vestigial  phalanges  occasionally  found  in 
embryo  Fin  Whales  between  the  second  and  third  fingers,  really  represent  the  lost  third  digit, 
it  results  that  the  functional  fingers  correspond  to  digits  I,  II,  IV,  and  V  of  the  typical  verte- 
brate hand.  These  consist  each  of  a  basal  segment  or  metacarpal,  succeeded  by  several  bony 
or  cartilaginous  phalanges,  the  exact  number  of  which  varies  somewhat,  partly  from  the  fact 
that  in  immature  specimens  they  are  not  wholly  bony.  In  the  respective  digits  the  number 
of  these  phalanges  is  given  by  Struthers  as  4,  7,  7,  4  in  an  aged  individual.  The  Gloucester 
specimen  had  4,  6,  4,  2  on  one  side  and  4,  6,  5,  2  on  the  other  according  to  Dwight.  In  True's 
(1904,  p.  143)  table  summarizing  observations  of  several  investigators,  it  is  shown  that  for 
digit  I,  3  or  4  is  usual,  rarely  2;  for  digit  II,  6  is  usual,  rarely  5  or  7;  for  digit  IV,  rarely  4, 
usually  5,  sometimes  6  or  7;  for  digit  V  usually  3,  sometimes  2  or  4.  Digits  2  and  4  have 
therefore  regularly  more  than  the  usual  three  phalanges,  a  condition  known  as  '  hyperphalangy.' 

The  hind  limb  is  not  present  in  the  adult  whale,  yet  in  very  small  embryos  its  rudiment 
may  be  seen  in  the  shape  of  a  small  papilla  on  each  side  of  the  anus.  It  does  not  develop, 
however,  and  must  have  been  lost  very  long  ago  in  the  history  of  the  race.  The  pelvic  girdle 
likewise  is  poorly  developed  and  is  represented  in  the  adult  by  two  bones,  situated  one  on  each 
side  imbedded  in  the  flesh  above  the  anus.  They  are  somewhat  triangular  in  form  with  an 
inner  crescentic  outline,  and  externally  a  large  projection  near  one  end,  corresponding  to  the 
pubic  element.  They  are  supposed  to  represent  each  a  half  of  the  pelvis  with  the  elements 
much  reduced.  That  they  have  not  wholly  disappeared  is  probably  because  they  still  sub- 
serve a  slight  function  for  muscle  attachment.  On  the  lower  and  external  side,  held  by  liga- 
ments on  the  curve  between  the  pubis  and  ilium  (or  the  points  corresponding  to  these  elements) 
is  a  small  round  nodule  of  bone  which  represents  all  that  is  left  of  the  head  of  the  femur.  The 
size  of  the  pelvic  bones  varies  more  or  less.  In  the  Society's  specimen,  which  is  an  immature 
female,  they  are  8.5  and  9  inches  long  respectively  but  may  be  as  long  as  23  inches  (Struthers) 
in  an  adult  male,  with  a  femoral  nodule  two  inches  long. 

Movements  and  Spouting. 

The  actions  and  appearance  of  living  Finbacks  are  somewhat  characteristic,  though  it 
is  not  probable  that  the  larger  species  of  Balaenoptera  can  always  be  identified  at  sea.  The 
first  photographs  published  showing  living  Finbacks  in  the  North  Atlantic,  are  those  of  True 
(1903).  Millais  has  also  published  a  figure  showing  the  spout  of  this  whale,  and  Andrews 
(1909)  has  given  an  excellent  series  of  photographs  illustrating  the  spouting  and  other  move- 
ments of  the  Pacific  Finback  (B.  velifera},  a  very  closely  allied  species.  One's  first  view  of 
a  whale  at  sea  is  apt  to  be  extremely  disappointing,  for  instead  of  a  huge  bulk  floating  lightly 
on  the  surface,  as  pictured  in  the  books  of  childhood,  a  very  small  portion  only  of  the  great 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  193 

animal  is  exposed  above  water  at  a  time.  The  characteristic  positions  of  the  shallow,  surface 
dives  made  as  the  whale  comes  up  to  breathe  several  times  in  succession,  are  to  be  distinguished 
from  those  of  the  deep  dive  or  'sounding'  made  at  the  end  of  the  series  of  shallow  dives, 
when  the  whale,  having  refreshed  its  lungs,  plunges  below  for  a  longer  stay.  On  again  coming 
to  the  surface  from  the  depths,  it  rises  obliquely,  and  at  the  moment  the  blowholes  at  the 
vertex  of  the  head,  are  exposed,  the  vaporous  breath  is  expelled  with  great  force  to  a  height 
which  probably  does  not  exceed  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  (Andrews).  The  sound  produced  by 
this  rush  of  breath  is  audible  at  a  considerable  distance  and  is  said  to  be  sharper  than  the  noise 
made  by  the  Humpback.  The  column  of  vapor  is  of  characteristic  shape,  directed  vertically 
upward,  narrow  at  first,  expanding  evenly  to  the  summit,  like  a  thin-stemmed  vase,  without 
appearance  of  its  double  origin.  As  the  cloud  of  vapor  dissolves  the  inspiration  takes  place, 
the  widely  expanded  blowholes  close,  the  head  is  depressed  slightly  and  as  the  forward  part 
of  the  whale  sinks  under  water,  the  top  of  the  shoulders  and  back  successively  appear,  until 
the  high  dorsal  fin  comes  clear  out.  By  this  time  the  front  part  of  the  body  is  already  sink- 
ing, and  soon  the  ridge  of  the  back  and  finally  the  dorsal  fin  disappear.  The  tail  is  not  shown. 
Several  of  these  shallow  dives  follow,  at  somewhat  regular  intervals  usually  about  six  to  ten 
or  twelve  in  succession.  Andrews  (1909)  found  that  the  Pacific  Finback  usually  spouted 
about  four  times  at  fifteen-second  intervals  before  sounding  for  a  longer  period.  In  sounding, 
the  body  is  much  more  arched  than  in  the  shallow  dives,  and  the  whale  goes  down  at  a  sharp 
angle.  In  ordinary  course  the  whale  may  appear  again  in  from  four  to  fifteen  minutes  or 
longer  (Andrews  tuned  a  Pacific  Finback  that  was  down  for  twenty-three  minutes).  It  is 
unknown  what  the  maximum  time  may  be  that  a  Finback  can  remain  under  water,  but  proba- 
bly it  is  not  above  half  an  hour.  It  often  happens  that  whales  sound  and  are  not  again  seen. 
No  doubt  in  such  cases  they  go  a  long  distance  and  when  next  they  rise  to  the  surface,  are  too 
far  away  to  be  easily  made  out.  The  appearance  of  the  spout  may  be  modified  by  the  action 
of  the  wind,  or  it  may  vary  according  to  the  force  with  which  it  is  expelled  and  the  amount 
of  moisture  contained  in  it  and  the  surrounding  air.  It  is  not  altogether  the  colder  tempera- 
ture of  the  ah-  that  causes  the  vapor  to  become  visible  through  condensation,  as  in  case  of 
our  own  breath  in  winter;  for  the  spout  is  equally  visible  under  the  tropics.  No  doubt  the 
explanation,  as  first  advanced  by  Racovitza  (1903),  is  that  the  vapor  becomes  surcharged 
with  moisture  under  pressure  in  the  whale's  lungs,  and  when  violently  expelled,  it  expands. 
Tli  is  sudden  expansion  in  accordance  with  a  well  known  physical  law,  causes  an  immediate 
lowering  of  temperature  sufficient  to  produce  momentary  condensation  of  the  water  particles 
contained,  which  therefore  become  visible  as  a  'spout.'  It  is  strange  how  hard  it  is,  never- 
theless, to  root  out  the  idea  that  a  whale  spouts  water  engulfed  through  its  mouth ;  and  I 
have  even  knows  persons  of  education  to  believe  that  it  spouted  oil,  manufactured  within  its 
blubber! 


194  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

In  diving,  the  whale  leaves  on  the  surface,  an  oval  'slick,'  as  the  whalers  call  it,  an  area  of 
water  smoother  than  that  surrounding  it,  due  no  doubt  to  the  counter  currents  produced  by 
the  displaced  water  as  the  whale  comes  to  the  surface  and  withdraws.  It  is  unlikely  that 
it  is  due,  as  one  author  has  supposed,  to  oil  from  the  whale  itself. 

The  Finback  Whale  seems  but  rarely  to  leap  out  of  water.  An  instance  of  this  sort,  how- 
ever, is  reported  in  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  for  August  10,  1833,  but  the  circumstances  were 
peculiar  in  that  the  whale  had  accidentally  run  upon  some  rocks  near  shore,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Whitehead  Light,  Maine.  After  floundering  about  for  some  minutes,  it  managed  to  free 
itself,  but  was  "evidently  not  a  little  agitated,  throwing  itself  out  of  the  water,"  as  it  ap- 
proached a  schooner  nearby.  Professor  W.  Kiikenthal  tells  me  that  he  has  once  seen  this 
species  'breeching.'  Usually  however,  it  does  not  leap  out  of  water. 

Millais  believes  that  the  Finback  can  appreciably  turn  its  head,  notwithstanding  its 
short  neck.  At  all  events  this  seemed  to  be  the  case  in  one  instance  he  observed. 

While  feeding  near  the  surface,  the  Finbacks  often  swim  back  and  forth  in  the  currents, 
and  with  open  mouth  engulf  quantities  of  water  containing  small  crustaceans  or  fishes.  Ac- 
cording to  Andrews,  they  turn  on  their  side,  and  the  water,  as  the  great  mouth  closes,  is  forced 
out  between  the  baleen  plates.  At  such  times  one  of  the  pectoral  fins  and  a  lobe  of  the  flukes 
may  be  protruded  above  water.  "The  animal  [Pacific  Finback]  frequently  rolls  from  side  to 
side  exposing  nearly  the  entire  length  of  the  body." 

Schools. 

Although  single  Finbacks  are  often  seen,  it  is  commoner  to  find  them  in  pairs  or 
schools  of  greater  or  less  numbers.  When  traveling  in  pairs,  the  two  keep  close  together, 
almost  side  by  side,  diving  and  rising  in  unison.  Where  there  is  an  abundance  of  food  many 
of  these  whales  will  sometimes  congregate,  and  occasionally  multitudes  are  reported  off  our 
shores  moving  in  open  order  and  apparently  in  a  concerted  manner  as  if  migrating.  Such 
movements  are  more  often  noticed  during  early  summer.  The  few  instances  following  are 
given  for  what  they  are  worth,  and  serve  to  indicate  the  size  of  some  of  the  schools  of  Finbacks 
on  our  coast. 

Captain  B.  F.  Gardner,  of  the  steamboat  George  W.  Donaldson  running  between  Newport, 
R.  I.,  and  Block  Island,  informed  Major  E.  A.  Mearns  that  almost  every  year  Finbacks  were 
seen,  in  schools  of  from  six  to  twenty,  usually  in  pairs. 

A  company  of  four  Finbacks  is  reported  in  October,  1868,  proceeding  westward  from 
Nantucket  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  49,  no.  18,  Oct.  31,  1868). 

A  school  of  whales,  presumably  Finbacks,  was  reported  near  Block  Island,  R.  I.,  about 
the  middle  of  July,  1884;  they  were  estimated  to  be  about  twenty  in  number  (Nantucket 
Journal,  vol.  6,  no.  42,  July  17,  1884). 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  195 

A  school  of  Finbacks  numbering  about  twelve  was  discovered  off  Cape  Cod  about  the 
first  of  June,  1888,  by  the  whaling  steamer  A.  B.  Nickcrson  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  10,  no. 
36,  June  7,  1888). 

What  must  have  been  an  immense  school  of  Finbacks  was  seen  by  officers  of  the  United 
Fruit  Company's  steamer  Esparta,  when  off  Nantucket  South  Shoal  Lightship  about  the 
middle  of  July,  1909.  They  were  scattered  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  and  were  estimated 
to  number  "hundreds."  According  to  the  report  they  were  heading  north  and  "were  evi- 
dently in  pursuit  of  mackerel"  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  90,  no.  3,  July  17,  1909). 

Great  numbers  of  Finbacks  were  seen  off  South  Shoal  Lightship  in  the  last  part  of  August, 
1913,  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Welch  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Fisheries. 

In  Scandinavian  seas,  Millais  reports  that  a  whaling  captain  observed  near  two  hundred 
Finbacks  in  sight  at  once  from  the  masthead.  They  were  scattered  over  an  area  of  some 
five  square  miles,  singly  or  by  twos  and  threes. 

Rest. 

As  to  the  manner  and  time  when  these  whales  rest,  and  the  duration  of  their  in- 
activity, we  are  in  almost  utter  ignorance.  Probably  they  do  actually  sleep  like  other 
mammals,  and  this  by  day  as  well  as  by  night.  An  intelligent  Norwegian  whaler  with  whom 
I  talked  on  the  Newfoundland  coast,  believed  that  Rorquals  slept  at  night  at  the  surface  of 
the  water,  as  shown  by  the  fact  that  one  night  the  whaling  steamer  while  returning  up  Placentia 
Bay,  ran  into  one.  Yet  collisions  may  occur  when  whales  are  attempting  to  cross  a  vessel's 
bows,  so  the  incident  is  not  conclusive.  True  (1904)  quotes  from  an  old  narrative  by  a 
Franciscan  monk,  Sagard-Theodat,1  written  in  1632,  concerning  whales  seen  in  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  off  Gaspe".  He  says  (translated),  "The  first  whale  that  we  saw  at  sea  was  asleep, 
and  as  we  passed  quite  close  the  ship  was  turned  a  little,  for  fear  that  upon  awaking  it  might 
do  us  some  harm."  Again  he  says,  "The  Gibars  and  other  whales  sleep  holding  their  heads 
extended  out  of  the  water,  so  that  this  blowhole  is  exposed  and  at  the  surface."  The  term 
Gibar  seems  to  have  been  used  to  include  Finback  and  Humpback  Whales. 

Accidents  and  Fatalities. 

Of  the  larger  Cetacea  frequenting  the  New  England  coasts,  the  Finback  Whale  is  the 
one  most  commonly  found  stranded.  This  may  in  part  be  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the  most 
numerous  of  the  big  whales,  but  I  think,  also  that  it  comes  in  shore  in  pursuit  of  small  schools 
of  fish  or  enters  shallow  water  more  frequently  than  the  Sulphurbottom  or  the  Sperm  Whale, 
and  because  of  its  large  size  is  less  able  to  escape  from  shallows  than  the  smaller  Humpback, 

1  Sagard-Th6odat,  G.     Le  Grand  Voyage  au  Pays  des  Hurons,  1632. 


196  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Piked  Whale,  or  Right  Whale.  Possibly  it  is  at  times  chased  by  the  relentless  Killer  Whales 
or  Orcas  into  shallow  water.  In  many  cases  Finbacks  have  drifted  ashore  that  were  killed 
at  sea,  but  numerous  instances  have  occurred  in  which  the  stranding  of  unhurt  individuals 
has  come  about  through  accident.  Most  commonly  these  fatalities  result  from  the  whale 
having  come  close  in  to  the  shore,  when  a  falling  tide  has  left  it  stranded,  or  has  cut  off  escape 
by  lowering  the  water  through  the  channel  whence  it  entered  some  bay  or  harbor. 

Captain  N.  E.  Atwood  writing  from  Provincetown,  says,  "I  have  known  two  of  this  spe- 
cies to  run  on  shore  in  the  night,  in  our  harbor,  and  be  left  by  the  receding  tide.  When  they 
were  killed  there  appeared  to  be  no  indications  of  disease,  and  the  cause  of  their  running  on 
the  beach  could  not  be  learned."  : 

The  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  August  10,  1833,  contains  a  note  on  the  stranding  of  a  "large 
Finback"  off  Whitehead  Light,  Maine,  as  witnessed  by  persons  on  the  schooner  Experiment 
bound  from  Salem  to  Northport.  "The  whale  ran  upon  the  rocks  near  the  light,  and  after 
floundering  some  time,  slipped  off  and  came  close  to  the  schooner,  evidently  not  a  little  agi- 
tated, throwing  himself  out  of  the  water  as  he  approached,  and  giving  the  vessel  a  sensible 
shock."  In  this  case  it  would  seem  that  the  whale  had  come  upon  submerged  rocks  of  which 
it  had  no  warning  and  had  been  carried  on  to  them  by  its  momentum. 

Mr.  Roscoe  C.  Emery  has  kindly  written  out  for  me  a  short  account  of  the  accidental 
stranding  of  a  Finback  Whale  on  January  17th,  1912,  near  Eastport,  Maine.  The  whale  "had 
been  in  Cobscook  Bay,  but  instead  of  returning  to  open  water  by  swimming  down  the  Lubec 
shore,  chose  to  pass  by  the  shallow  channel  north  of  this  island  (Eastport)  between  it  and  the 
mainland  of  Perry.  In  doing  so  it  entered  a  pool  blocked  at  one  entrance  by  a  railroad  bridge 
and  obstructed  at  the  other  by  a  sandbar.  This  sandbar,  while  covered  at  high  water  by  a 
depth  of  perhaps  ten  to  twelve  feet,  is  left  bare  by  the  ebbing  tide,  and  when  the  tide  dropped 
kept  the  whale  prisoner.  Here  it  was  noticed  by  two  Indians,  who  waited  until  the  receding 
tide  left  the  whale  stranded,  when  they  dispatched  it  with  bullets  and  harpoons."  Probably 
the  whale  had  been  following  a  school  of  herring,  and  so  had  been  lured  in  to  the  shore  waters. 
At  all  events,  a  herring  was  found  entangled  in  its  baleen. 

It  is  rarely  that  a  large  whale  becomes  entangled  in  a  fish  net,  though  this  does  occasion- 
ally happen,  and  on  the  Japan  coast  great  nets  are  regularly  used  in  the  capture  of  Right 
Whales.  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  86,  no.  23,  June  23,  1906)  gives  an  account 
of  the  adventure  that  befell  one  Henry  S.  Whorf  of  the  mackerel  drift-netter  Letha  May,  who 
one  night  in  mid-June,  in  his  dory  was  tending  the  nets  that  stretched  from  the  sloop's  bow 
fully  a  mile  into  Provincetown  Bay.  The  whale,  probably  a  Finback,  struck  the  net  near 
Whorf 's  dory  and  becoming  "enwrapped  in  countless  thousands  of  three-inch  meshes  of 

1  In  Allen,  J.  A.     Mammalia  of  Massachusetts.     Bull.  Mus.  Comp.  Zool.,  1869,  vol.  1,  p.  204. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  197 

coarse  twine  was  unable  to  obtain  a  full  supply  of  air,  and  exhausted  by  its  long  fight  for  liberty 
[and  air],  died  at  last,  to  the  delight  of  the  lone  fisherman,  who,  with  clothing  saturated  and 
dory  deluged  with  water  from  the  struggle,  lost  no  time  in  clearing  the  net  from  the  great 
animal  which  then  sank  from  sight."  Possibly  the  whale  did  not  see  the  net  at  night,  and 
so  did  not  avoid  it. 

The  same  journal  prints  an  item  concerning  a  GO-foot  whale  (and  hence  doubtless  a  Fin- 
hack)  that  "burst  violently  into  the  floating  trap  of  a  Provincetown  fisherman"  in  early  July, 
1908.  The  whale  caused  considerable  damage  to  the  net  but  eventually  freed  itself  and 
escaped  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  89,  no.  2,  July  11,  1908). 

A  similar  instance  is  reported  by  H.  F.  Moore  (Kept.  U.  S.  Comm.  Fish  and  Fisheries  for 
1896,  1898,  vol.  22,  p.  404)  who  says  that  Finback  Whales  in  pursuing  herring  in  Passama- 
quoddy  Bay,  Maine  "sometimes  enter  the  weirs  and  are  killed,  but  occasionally  the  result  is 
disastrous  to  the  weir,  a  fine  one  at  Grand  Manan  being  almost  ruined  by  a  whale  in  September, 
1893." 

A  number  of  cases  are  on  record  in  which  vessels  have  been  in  collision  with  whales, 
usually  to  the  greater  damage  of  the  latter.  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  05, 
no.  48,  May  30,  1885)  gives  an  account  of  such  an  accident  that  befell  the  pilot  boat  Alexander 
M.  Lawrence,  No.  4,  when  some  twenty  miles  east  of  Nantucket.  The  vessel  was  proceeding 
at  about  thirteen  knots  an  hour,  when  it  suddenly  collided  with  a  large  whale,  which  struck 
it  on  the  port  bow.  The  Lawrence  dipped  until  the  water  nearly  reached  her  hatches  and 
seemed  in  such  imminent  danger  of  capsizing  that  those  below  immediately  rushed  on  deck. 
Looking  back,  they  saw  the  whale  rolling  about  as  if  in  distress,  but  the  vessel  sustained  no 
injury.  No  indication  of  the  species  of  whale  is  given  but  it  was  most  likely  a  Finback  or 
Humpback. 

A  dead  Finback  Whale  "  about  forty  feet  long,  drifted  ashore  on  the  south  side  of  Tucker- 
nuck"  about  the  20th  of  June,  1904,  which  was  thought  to  have  been  "one  of  those  with  which 
schooner  Adelia  T.  Carleton  was  in  collision"  the  week  previous  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mir- 
ror, vol.  84,  no.  52,  June  25,  1904). 

The  same  journal  relates  that  the  steamer  Admiral  Sampson  in  mid-June,  1906,  while 
proceeding  through  a  fog  off  Chatham,  Mass.,  came  suddenly  upon  a  whale  that  had  risen  to 
blow  directly  in  the  vessel's  track.  The  chief  officer  grasped  the  whistle  cord  and  gave  a  sharp 
blast,  while  the  whale  at  once  dove  just  in  time  to  escape  being  cut  in  two  by  the  sharp  prow 
of  the  steamer.  "Its  huge  body  was  just  grazed  by  the  starboard  side  of  the  vessel  and  it 
came  up  almost  immediately  astern  and  followed  along  for  some  distance  as  though  bent  on 
revenge  "  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  86,  no.  22,  June  16,  1906). 

Another  instance  is  reported  by  Captain  von  Leitner  of  the  steamship  Graecian,  a  few 
summers  ago.  On  July  28th,  when  two  days  out  from  New  York,  bound  for  the  West  Indies, 


198  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

a,whale  was  struck  with  such  terrific  force  as  to  cut  the  animal  into  two  parts.  The  captain 
had  altered  his  course  to  avoid  the  collision,  but  was  too  late.  The  vessel  was  stopped  and  an 
examination  of  the  propellers  made  to  see  if  they  had  sustained  injury  from  contact  with  the 
carcass,  but  no  damage  was  discovered.  There  is  no  indication  as  to  the  species  of  whale 
killed.  The  Boston  newspapers  of  September  17,  1913,  chronicle  a  collision  between  a  whale, 
of  unknown  species,  and  the  Danish  steamer  Wladimir  Reitz,  some  250  miles  east  of  St.  John's, 
Newfoundland.  The  whale  was  not  seen  in  time  to  avoid  it,  and  it  struck  the  ship  head  on, 
"knocking  a  four-foot  hole  in  the  bow"  and  necessitating  a  run  to  St.  John's  for  repairs. 

Captain  Christaffersen  of  the  whaling  steamer  Puma,  told  me  in  1903,  that  while  pro- 
ceeding under  full  steam  at  night  in  Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland,  he  had  collided  with  a 
whale,  which  he  supposed  to  have  been  sleeping  at  the  surface.  The  shock  woke  the  others 
of  the  ship's  company,  and  it  was  at  first  feared  that  the  vessel  had  struck  a  rock,  though  the 
water  at  that  portion  of  the  bay  was  known  to  be  deep.  In  the  darkness  it  was  impossible 
to  tell  what  injury  the  whale  had  suffered.  In  all  these  cases,  it  seems  that  the  collision  was 
quite  by  accident. 

On  the  25th  of  July,  1842,  a  Wellfleet  fishing  schooner  found  a  dead  Finback  Whale  float- 
ing off  Plymouth,  Mass.,  and  took  it  in  tow  to  Provincetown.  On  stripping  off  the  blubber, 
it  was  found  that  the  under  jaw  was  broken  in  two  places  and  otherwise  much  injured.  At 
about  the  same  time  a  Cohasset  fishing  schooner  fell  in  with  another  dead  Finback  whose 
jaw  was  similarly  broken.  It  was  supposed  that  the  two  had  been  fighting,  and  so  had  fatally 
injured  each  other,  but  the  usual  peaceable  nature  of  this  species  is  rather  against  such  a  sup- 
position. The  sex  of  the  dead  animals  is  not  given  (see  Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  3,  no.  28, 
July  9,  1842). 

It  has  occasionally  happened  that  whales  have  become  caught  by  the  anchor  of  a  moored 
vessel,  and  even  sustained  fatal  injuries  therefrom.  Thus  the  Yarmouth  (Mass.)  Register 
(quoted  by  the  Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  35,  no.  100,  Aug.  27,  1855)  recounts  that  a  whale, 
apparently  a  Finback,  was  caught  by  the  anchor  of  the  schooner  Valentine  Doane,  of  Harwich. 
So  violent  were  the  whale's  struggles  to  free  itself  that  it  broke  the  anchor,  but  received  such 
injuries  in  its  frenzy  that  it  shortly  died  and  was  later  found  floating  on  the  surface.  The 
broken  anchor  was  on  exhibition  for  some  while  at  Harwichport. 

An  earlier  instance  of  this  nature  is  recorded  by  Paul  Dudley  in  his  famous  essay  on  the 
natural  history  of  whales:  "A  few  Years  since  [previous  to  1725],"  he  writes,1  "one  of  the 
Finback  Whales  came  into  a  Harbour  near  Cape-Cod,  and  towed  away  a  Sloop  of  near  forty 
Tun,  out  of  the  Harbour  into  the  Sea.  This  Accident  happened  thus:  It  is  thought  the  Whale 
was  rubbing  herself  upon  the  Fluke  of  the  Anchor,  or  going  near  the  Bottom,  got  the  Fluke 

1  Dudley,  Paul.     Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soo.  London,  Abridged,  1734,  vol.  7,  pt.  3,  p.  428. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  199 

into  ...  the  Orifice  of  the  Uterus,  and  finding  herself  caught,  tore  away  with  such  Violence, 
that  she  towed  the  Ship  out  of  the  Harbour,  as  fast  as  if  she  had  been  under  Sail  with  a  good 
Gale  of  Wind,  to  the  Astonishment  of  the  People  on  Shore,  for  there  was  nobody  on  board. 
When  the  Whale  came  into  deep  Water,  she  went  under,  and  had  like  to  have  carried  the  Sloop 
wit  h  her,  but  the  Cable  gave  Way,  and  so  the  Boats  that  were  out  after  her,  recovered  it.  This 
Whale  was  found  dead  some  Days  after  on  that  Shore,  with  the  Anchor  sticking  in  her  Belly." 

On  December  IGth,  1874,  "while  the  schooner  Sultana  was  lying  at  anchor  on  Grand  Bank, 
;i  sudden  motion  was  felt  by  those  on  board,  and  it  became  evident  that  the  craft  was  being 
carried  through  the  water  by  some  unseen  and  unknown  power.  Looking  forward,  it  was 
observed  that  the  cable  was  drawn  taut,  and  that  some  '  monster  of  the  deep '  was  attached 
thereto,  and  drawing  the  vessel  along  at  the  rate  of  twelve  knots  an  hour.  Soon  they  obtained 
positive  evidence,  as  a  mammoth  whale  came  to  the  surface  to  blow,  having  the  anchor  of  the 
vessel  hooked  either  into  his  jaw  or  blow-hole.  There  was  also  another  whale  which  swam 
near,  evidently  greatly  astonished  at  the  predicament  of  his  companion.  The  men  on  board 
one  of  the  dories,  which  had  just  returned  from  visiting  their  trawls,  had  barely  time  to  make 
I'ast  their  painter  ere  the  vessel  started.  Another  dory,  with  two  men,  was  at  some  distance, 
also  visiting  their  trawls.  The  captain  stood  ready  with  axe  in  hand,  in  case  of  emergency, 
and  allowed  the  whale  to  tow  them  some  distance;  but  not  wishing  to  lose  sight  of  the  men 
in  the  dory,  was  obliged  to  cut  the  cable."  1  A  rough  sketch  by  the  ship's  steward  accom- 
panies this  account,  and  represents  a  whale  with  prominent  dorsal  fin  (and  so  probably  a  Fin- 
back) towing  the  schooner. 

These  instances  of  whales  becoming  caught  by  the  anchor  of  a  vessel  indicate  that  they 
occasionally  seek  the  bottom  at  moderate  depths,  perhaps  in  pursuit  of  food,  perhaps  even  to 
rest  briefly  on  the  sea  floor,  as  seals  will  sometimes  do.  An  interesting  note  in  this  connection 
comes  from  Captain  Laffan  of  the  U.  S.  cable  ship  Burnside  which  was  sent  north  from  Seattle, 
Washington,  a  few  years  ago  to  repair  the  cable  from  that  city  to  Alaska  because  of  the  diffi- 
culty experienced  that  winter  in  sending  and  receiving  messages.  The  Burnside  picked  up 
the  cable  connecting  Valdez  and  Sitka  a  few  miles  off  Cook's  Inlet,  and  finally  discovered  the 
cause  of  the  trouble.  A  large  whalebone  whale,  probably  while  feeding  near  the  bottom, 
had  succeeded  in  taking  the  cable  in  its  open  jaws  where  it  had  become  wedged  between  the 
whalebone  plates.  Unable  to  free  itself,  the  whale  had  rolled  and  turned  until  the  cable  had 
become  tightly  twisted  about  its  head,  effectually  holding  it  until  it  drowned.  The  carcass 
had  been  devoured  by  fish,  but  the  great  mass  of  whalebone  was  brought  aboard  by  the  crew 
of  the  Burnside.  No  indication  of  the  species  of  whale  is  given  in  the  brief  account  of  this 
interest  ing  casualty.  More  lately  a  somewhat  similar  case  is  reported  from  Ceylon. 

1  Anon.     The  Fisheries  of  Gloucester,  from  1023  to  1876.  etc.     Gloucester,  1876,  p.  (U. 


200  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

The  Boston  daily  papers  of  January  13th,  1915,  chronicle  the  disappearance  of  the  Roaring 
Bull  buoy  off  Pease's  Island,  N.  B.  The  report  states  that  the  Canadian  Government  steamer, 
which  went  out  to  locate  the  missing  buoy,  found  it  at  some  distance  from  its  station  with  a 
50-foot  whale  entangled  in  its  chain.  Apparently  the  whale  had  dragged  the  buoy  with  its 
anchor,  weighing  in  all  5,000  pounds  until  it  had  become  exhausted  and  sunk. 


Food. 

The  food  of  the  Finback  Whale  consists  in  part  of  fish  and  in  part  of  small  pelagic  crusta- 
ceans. On  the  Newfoundland  coast,  the  stomachs  of  several  Finbacks  which  I  examined 
contained  enormous  quantities  of  the  small  shrimp-like  schizopod,  Thysanoessa  inermis.  No 
doubt  this  is  also  eaten  by  the  Finbacks  on  the  New  England  coast,  yet  it  is  probable  that  other 
species  too  are  taken.  In  his  explorations  in  the  Gulf  of  Maine  in  July  and  August,  1912, 
Dr.  H.  B.  Bigelow  (1914)  failed  to  obtain  T.  inermis  in  the  tow,  at  all,  though  other  schizopods 
and  copepods  were  abundant.  This  is  the  more  interesting  since  Finback  Whales  are  common- 
est in  these  months  and  several  were  seen  by  Dr.  Bigelow  on  this  cruise.  He  found  the  small 
copepod  Calanus  fmmarchicus  abundant,  and  the  large  schizopod  Meganyctiphanes  norvegica 
common.  Undoubtedly  both  these  are  eaten  by  Finbacks.  In  a  winter  cruise,  Dr.  Bigelow 
obtained  Thysanoessa  inermis  on  the  south  coast  of  Massachusetts  commonly  in  the  tow. 
Lillie  (1910,  p.  786)  found  that  Meganyctiphanes  norvegica  composed  nearly  the  entire  stomach 
contents,  so  far  as  ascertainable,  in  a  number  of  Finbacks  killed  off  the  west  coast  of  Ireland 
in  July  and  August.  It  is  likely,  therefore,  that  it  is  largely  eaten  on  our  own  coasts  by  these 
whales  in  summer. 

Fish  of  several  species  are  consumed  in  great  quantities  but  exact  observations  are  difficult 
to  obtain.  Paul  Dudley  in  his  famous  essay  on  the  whales  of  New  England,  says  of  the  Right 
Whale,  that  "their  Swallow  is  not  much  bigger  than  an  Ox's,  but  the  Finback  Whale  has  a 
larger  Swallow:  for  he  lives  upon  the  smaller  Fish,  as  Mackarel,  Herring,  &c.  great  Sculls 
[i.  e.  Schools]  of  which  they  run  through,  and,  with  a  short  Turn,  cause  an  Eddy  or  Whirlpool, 
by  the  Force  of  which,  the  small  Fish  are  brought  into  a  Cluster;  so  that  this  Fish,  with  open 
Mouth,  will  take  in  some  Hundreds  of  them  at  a  time."  No  doubt  the  whirlpool  supposed  to 
be  made  by  the  whale  in  feeding  is  largely  fanciful,  but  it  is  true  that  the  Herring  forms  an 
important  part  of  the  food  of  the  Finbacks  on  our  coast.  It  will  be  of  interest  to  consider 
briefly  the  occurrence  of  the  herring  on  our  shores  in  connection  with  the  presence  of  these 
whales.  H.  F.  Moore  l  has  written  an  extensive  treatise  on  herring  fishing  in  the  region  of 
Passamaquoddy  Bay,  Maine,  from  which  the  following  notes  are  extracted. 

1  Moore,  H.  F.     Observations  on  the  herring  and  herring  fisheries  of  the  northeast  coast,  with  especial  reference  to 
the  vicinity  of  Passamaquoddy  Ray.     Rept.  U.  S.  Comm.  Fish  and  Fisheries  for  189(i,  1898,  vol.  22,  p.  387-422,  pi.  60-62. 


COMMON  FINHACK  WHALE.  201 

In  the  western  Atlantic  Ocean  the  herring  ranges  as  far  south  as  Cape  Hatteras,  but  never 
occurs  in  great  abundance  south  of  Block  Island.  The  principal  fisheries  are  from  Cape  Cod 
to  Newfoundland.  The  small  herring  and  some  of  the  larger  ones  are  found  throughout  the 
year  on  the  coast  of  Maine.  During  the  winter  they  apparently  keep  in  the  deeper  water,  but 
catches  have  occasionally  been  made  in  the  weirs  during  February.  In  spring  they  approach 
the  shores  and  the  weirs  are  tended  regularly  from  April  1  till  the  following  January.  Com- 
paratively few  are  taken  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay  till  July  and  August.  Strong  currents  and 
eddies,  such  as  "the  Ripplings"  off  Grand  Manan  are  much  frequented  by  the  herring  schools 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  food  that  tends  to  collect  in  such  places. 

The  herring  feed  chiefly  on  small  copepods  (Calanus)  called  "red  seed,"  and  Thysanopoda 
or  "shrimps"  (?  Thysanoessa)  which  occur  in  enormous  numbers.  During  the  winter  there 
is  a  comparative  dearth  of  animal  life  at  the  surface,  due  in  part  to  the  winds  which  at  this 
season  cause  more  sea  so  that  surface  life  seeks  deeper  levels.  "During  the  summer  these 
shrimps  are  extraordinarily  abundant  in  the  Passamaquoddy  district,  but  it  is  said  that  they  are 
not  often  seen  at  the  surface  in  winter;  but  if  this  be  true,  they  no  doubt  abound  at  a  distance 
from  the  surface  where  the  temperature  is  more  equable."  In  summer  and  fall  both  copepods 
and  thysanopods  are  found  near  the  surface,  often  in  such  dense  masses  as  to  impart  a  distinct 
reddish  tinge  to  the  water.  Herrings  appear  to  feed  principally  at  night  but  in  late  summer 
and  early  fall  immense  schools  of  the  young  may  be  seen  at  the  surface  at  all  hours  of  the  day. 
Mackerel  are  said  to  feed  extensively  on  young  herring.  Westward  from  Grand  Manan  the 
spawning  ground  for  herring  is  almost  continuous  along  the  coast  to  Wood  Island,  Maine,  and 
thence  in  places  as  far  southwest  as  Block  Island,  Rhode  Island.  In  the  vicinity  of  Machias 
Bay  the  herring  usually  appear  after  the  middle  of  July  and  remain  until  late  in  September. 
At  Frenchman's  Bay  the  '  net '  herring  arrive  during  June  and  remain  till  late  in  October. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  E.  Ralph  Haskell  of  Ipswich,  who  has  had  much  experience  with 
herring  on  the  New  England  coast,  for  the  following  interesting  notes.  "In  July  or  August 
great  schools  of  small  herring,  the  sardine  of  the  Maine  coast,  arrive  off  eastern  Massachu- 
setts and  remain,  appearing  at  intervals,  until  the  departure  of  the  larger  fish.  The  latter 
arrive  for  spawning  about  the  twentieth  of  September  but  the  exact  date  may  vary  a  great  deal. 
They  are  not  numerous  until  the  first  of  November.  The  spawning  season  in  this  vicinity  is 
from  October  first  until  November  first  and  scattering  schools  can  usually  be  found  during  the 
first  week  of  December.  Some  years  they  have  remained  until  the  first  part  of  February.  As 
the  herring  do  not  spawn  south  of  Eastport,  Maine,  in  the  spring,  there  is  no  spring  'run'  of 
them  here." 

Mitchell1  in  his  monograph  on  the  herring,  considers  it  the  most  abundant  fish  in  the 

1  Mitchell,  John  M.     The  herring,  its  natural  history  and  national  importance.     Edinburgh,  18G4,  xii  +  372  pp.,  illus. 


202  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

North  Atlantic,  a  statement  that  may  readily  be  believed  by  one  who  has  seen  the  myriads  of 
them  that  occasionally  are  cast  on  our  shores.  In  August,  1911,  for  example,  I  witnessed  such 
a  tremendous  destruction  of  young  herring  a  few  inches  long,  that  they  were  heaped  in  wind- 
rows along  the  shores  of  Rye  Beach,  N.  H.,  for  miles.  Indeed  so  great  was  the  quantity  of 
dead  fish,  that  steps  had  to  be  taken  by  the  people  residing  near,  to  bury  some  part  of  them. 

Mitchell  notes  that  on  the  Norwegian  and  Scottish  coasts  herring  are  frequently  pursued 
or  accompanied  by  schools  of  whales  and  other  animals  that  prey  upon  them.  He  specifically 
mentions  that  in  the  Bay  of  Cromarty,  in  1780,  a  large  shoal  of  herrings  appeared,  accompanied 
by  numbers  of  whales  and  porpoises  beating  the  water  into  a  foam  for  several  miles,  giving  it 
the  appearance  as  if  ruffled  by  sudden  land  squalls.  Again,  in  1816,  on  the  coast  near  Fraser- 
burgh,  a  shoal  of  herring  was  accompanied  or  pursued  by  about  one  hundred  whales  of  various 
sizes  which  remained  seven  days,  from  the  24th  to  30th  of  August,  in  the  same  locality.  The 
herring  were  of  good  size,  full  of  milt  and  roe.  The  whales  may  thus  indicate  to  the  fishermen 
the  presence  of  these  fish,  as  in  case  of  one  who,  fishing  off  Stornoway,  Scotland,  while  the 
other  boats  were  unsuccessful,  was  induced,  through  the  appearance  of  a  whale  at  a  certain 
distance,  to  cast  his  nets  near  the  whale,  with  the  result  that  he  took  forty-eight  barrels  of 
very  superior  herring,  though  the  other  boats  obtained  only  small  quantities. 

On  the  New  England  coasts  the  Finback  Whales  pursue  the  herring  as  on  the  European 
shores,  and  the  appearance  of  both  is  frequently  simultaneous.  The  springs  of  1880  and  1881 
were  remarkable  for  the  great  numbers  of  these  whales  that  came  in  shore  along  the  Massa- 
chusetts and  Maine  coasts  apparently  in  pursuit  of  herring.  Thus  Clark  1  relates  that  "early 
in  March,  1880,  there  came  into  Provincetown  Bay  and  harbor  immense  quantities  of  herring 
and  shrimps.  They  were  followed  by  a  great  number  of  finback  whales  which  were  here  most 
of  the  time  in  greater  or  less  numbers  until  about  the  middle  of  May,  when  they  all  left. . . . 
Early  in  June  immense  quantities  of  sand  eels  (Ammodytes)  came  in  our  harbor  and  bay  and 
remained  here  several  days.  About  the  10th  of  June  there  appeared  plenty  of  whales  feeding 
on  the  sand  eels."  Mitchell  writes  that  herring  feed  on  the  sand  eels  so  that  possibly  the 
whales  may  have  been  in  pursuit  of  herring,  which  in  turn  were  preying  on  the  sand  eels.  Clark, 
however,  does  not  mention  herring  with  them.  He  later  says  that  in  the  spring  of  1880,  these 
whales  were  so  "abundant  in  Ipswich  and  Massachusetts  Bays... that  fishermen  in  their 
dories  were  in  some  cases  alarmed  for  their  own  safety,  as  the  whales  were  darting  about  in 
pursuit  of  schools  of  herring." 

In  the  latter  half  of  October,  1874,  large  numbers  of  whales,  apparently  Finbacks,  were 
present  in  Vineyard  Sound,  and  off  Cuttyhunk,  Gay  Head,  and  Neman's  Land,  pursuing  the 
herring  that  were  there  in  great  abundance  for  the  fall  spawning. 

1  Clark,  A.  Howard,  in  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  2,  p.  230. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  203 

April  23,  1896,  a  "good-sized  school  of  whales"  is  reported  about  Cape  Cod  as  following 
tho  herring  school. 

About  March  15,  1899,  two  large  Finbacks  were  reported  in  Provincetown  Harbor  "in 
pursuit  of  scattered  schools  of  small  herring,  and  for  an  hour  or  two  rushed  about  in  plain 
view  of  many  fishermen  who  made  no  attempt  to  capture  them.  They  were  the  first  of  the 
spring  school  to  enter  the  harbor,  though  several  were  seen  in  the  offing  more  than  a  fortnight" 
before  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  21,  no.  24,  March  16,  1899). 

What  was  said  to  have  been  the  largest  school  of  Finback  Whales  seen  in  Massachusetts 
Bay  since  1881,  was  reported  in  early  February,  1905,  pursuing  the  large  herring  then  in  those 
waters  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  85,  no.  32,  Feb.  4,  1905). 

An  item  in  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  81,  no.  30)  for  January  20,  1901,  re- 
ports that  "whales  and  herring  have  appeared  off  Provincetown.  The  fishermen  have  caught 
many  of  the  latter."  It  is  rather  unusual  for  the  herring  to  appear  in  numbers  at  this  season, 
but  their  presence  explains  that  of  the  whales,  which  doubtless  were  in  pursuit  of  them. 

H.  F.  Moore  (1898,  p.  404)  writes  that  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  Maine,  "finback  whales 
feed  upon  herring,  but,  though  occasionally  seen  in  summer,  do  not  appear  in  numbers  before 
October.  A  letter  from  Mr.  McLaughlin,  dated  December  30  [1895],  says  that  'for  ten  days  a 
large  school  of  herring  and  whales  has  been  off  this  station'  (Southern  Head,  Grand  Manan). 
The  whales  sometimes  enter  the  weirs  and  are  killed." 

Mr.  Roscoe  C.  Emery,  of  Eastport,  Maine,  writes  me  in  regard  to  a  Finback  Whale  stranded 
near  there  January  17,  1912,  that  "a  large  herring  trapped  in  its  baleen  showed  that  it  had 
liccn  feeding  on  herring."  . 

Millais  reports  that  a  Finback  brought  in  to  one  of  the  Shetland  stations  contained  in 
its  stomach  many  large  herring  still  unspawned. 

These  few  references  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  Finback  Whales  follow  the  schools  of 
herring  and  destroy  large  quantities  not  only  of  small  ones  but  also  of  large  fish  about  to  spawn. 
If,  as  is  supposed,  the  herring  seek  deeper  water  during  the  colder  months,  it  seems  probable 
that  they  go  too  deep  for  these  whales  to  follow,  since  their  return  shoreward  is  coincident 
in  marked  degree  with  the  reappearance  of  the  whales  (see  under  heading  of  Manner  of  Oc- 

snce).  The  presence  of  the  herring  may  in  turn,  depend  largely  on  that  of  the  minute 
istaceans  which  constitute  so  large  a  portion  of  its  food,  and  these  too  largely  desert  the 
surface  waters  during  the  inclement  season.  The  whales  feed  upon  both  herring  and  crusta- 
ceans and  thus  their  movements  are  in  part  regulated  by  the  migrations  of  both  these  latter. 

I  know  of  no  positive  evidence  that  this  whale  feeds  on  mackerel  on  our  coasts,  although  it 
is  said  to  do  so.  Paul  Dudley  includes  this,  with  herring,  as  one  of  the  species  preyed  on  by 
the  Finback.  In  1861,  a  whale  was  killed  that  had  appeared  off  Nauset  "in  the  midst  of  a 
fleet  of  some  200  mackerel  fishermen"  (Barnstable  Patriot,  Nov.  12,  1861)  but  this  is  not 


204  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEKONE  WHALES. 

sufficient  proof  that  the  whale  was  in  pursuit  of  the  mackerel.  A  large  school  of  whales,  proba- 
bly of  this  species,  was  reported  in  mid- July  off  Nantucket  Shoals,  as  "heading  northward" 
and  "evidently  in  pursuit  of  mackerel"  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  90,  no.  3,  July 
17,  1909)  but  it  seems  quite  as  likely  that  in  this  and  other  similar  cases,  the  mackerel  were 
merely  associated  with  the  whales  in  following  the  small  herring  or  other  prey.  Fishermen 
on  the  Maine  coast  also  tell  me  that  mackerel  are  eaten  by  the  Finback  and  though  this  may  be 
the  case,  positive  confirmatory  evidence  is  much  needed.  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  informs  me 
that  the  mackerel  fishermen  sometimes  report  that  these  whales  come  up  under  their  nets  and 
engulf  some  of  the  fish  they  are  endeavoring  to  seine.  A  Finback  killed  in  the  Shetland 
Islands,  June  8,  1905,  was  found  to  have  devoured  herring,  mackerel,  and  a  dogfish,  the  last 
no  doubt,  engulfed  accidentally  with  the  other  fish  (Millais). 

On  the  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  coasts  the  Finbacks  devour  enormous  numbers  of 
capelin  (Mallotus  villosus),  a  small  fish  with  the  general  appearance  of  a  smelt.  The  stomachs 
of  several  Finbacks  I  examined  at  Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland,  in  1903,  were  entirely  filled 
with  these  fish.  Like  the  herring  they  move  in  vast  shoals  so  that  the  whales  can  readily 
engulf  them  in  quantity. 

Brown  (1868,  p.  547)  in  writing  of  the  Cetacea  of  the  Greenland  seas,  observes  that  Fin- 
backs eat  cod  and  that  he  has  known  of  eight  hundred  being  found  in  the  stomach  of  one. 
Brown  was  a  naturalist  of  some  repute,  but  his  statement  seems  to  need  verification.  More- 
over, eight  hundred  cod  might  be  a  large  meal  even  for  a  whale.  Low  (1906),  in  the  Cruise 
of  the  Neptune,  implies  that  these  whales  pursue  the  shoals  of  cod  into  the  waters  of  north- 
east Labrador.  More  precise  evidence  on  this  matter  is  greatly  to  be  desired. 

Breeding  Habits  and  Toung. 

Almost  nothing  is  known  in  a  definite  way,  concerning  the  breeding  habits  of  the  Balae- 
nopterae.  Copulation  takes  place  at  the  surface  but  it  is  not  clear  that  there  is  any  special 
rutting  season  though  Guldberg  (1886)  concludes  that  pairing  takes  place  early  in  the  year. 
The  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  August  21,  1833,  reports  what  was  probably  a  mating  of  these 
whales  in  Massachusetts  Bay  in  early  August  of  that  year.  A  Captain  Ezra  Smith  observed 
three  whales  together,  one  larger  and  two  smaller.  From  the  larger  whale,  estimated  to  be 
some  seventy  feet  long,  a  "horn  or  something  else,  rose  straight  up,  he  should  judge  from  ten 
to  fifteen  feet,  about  the  size  of  a  barrel  at  the  bottom  and  a  hat  at  the  top."  No  doubt  this 
"horn"  was  the  whale's  extruded  penis,  and  the  animals  seen  were  pairing.  The  fact  that 
individuals  may  be  taken  at  the  same  time  of  year,  containing  foetuses  of  various  stages  of 
growth,  seems  to  indicate  much  variation  in  the  time  of  breeding.  The  period  of  gestation  is 
believed  to  be  probably  a  year  or  thereabouts,  but  there  is  no  way  of  proving  this.  The  New- 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  205 

foundlund  whalemen  told  me  that  small  foetuses  could  be  obtained  in  the  spring,  but  that 
gnu-id  females  taken  in  the  fall  had  usually  large  foetuses  nearly  ready  for  birth.  A  single 
young  one  is  produced  at  a  birth,  though  rarely  there  may  be  twins.  I  was  informed  by  the 
whalers  at  a  Newfoundland  station  in  1903,  of  a  female  taken  in  Placentia  Bay  about  Septem- 
ber 4,  1903,  in  which  two  foetuses  were  found,  each  about  twelve  feet  long.  The  two  were  said 
to  be  a  male  and  a  female.  Other  cases  of  twins  are  known  but  are  very  rare.  We  are  in 
almost  total  ignorance  of  the  manner  and  place  of  birth,  but  according  to  the  Newfoundland 
whalers,  the  females  seek  the  quieter  waters  of  the  bays  in  fall  and  there  bring  forth  the  young. 
At  this  season,  they  say,  the  females  are  very  wild  and  difficult  to  approach.  This  may  well  be 
the  case,  for  all  the  six  whales  taken  during  my  stay  in  mid-September  at  Placentia  Bay  were 
males.  The  young  at  birth  is  nearly  a  quarter  the  length  of  its  parent.  True  (1904)  records 
a  female  of  67  feet  that  contained  a  foetus  15  feet  2  inches  long;  she  was  captured  off  New- 
foundland on  August  15th.  Slightly  longer  foetuses  are  recorded,  but  18  feet  is  probably  about 
a  maximum  length.  The  baleen  or  whalebone  is  formed  late  in  embryonic  life  and  is  not  visible 
in  even  fair-sized  foetuses.  Millais  (1906)  mentions  one  of  seventeen  feet  in  length  in  which 
the  baleen  was  just  beginning  to  show  in  the  gums. 

In  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  are  the  bones  of  a  foetal  Finback  collected  by 
Mr.  .1.  Henry  Blake  at  Provincetown  about  the  middle  of  June,  1881.  The  foetus  could  hardly 
have  been  a  yard  in  length  when  removed.  I  know  of  no  authentic  case  of  young  Finbacks 
being  found  on  our  coast. 

Range. 

The  Finback  Whale  is  cosmopolitan,  and  occurs  in  all  the  large  oceans,  but  it  is  currently 
supposed  that  the  Finbacks  of  the  Southern  Ocean  and  those  of  the  Pacific  represent  species 
ilistinguishable  from  the  Common  Finback  of  the  North  Atlantic.  The  latter  is  limited  in 
its  northward  range  by  the  ice  pack  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.  In  the  summer,  it  advances  to  the 
open  seas  about  Spitzbergen,  following  the  northeastern  extension  of  warmer  water.  On  the 
western  side  of  the  Atlantic,  however,  it  is  uncommon  much  above  Davis  Straits,  where  in 
summer  it  devours  great  numbers  of  small  fish  on  the  cod  banks  —  probably  capelin  for  the 
most  part.  It  apparently  does  not  penetrate  into  Hudson  Bay  —  at  all  events  I  have  found 
no  record  of  it,  —  but  may  follow  the  open  water  in  Baffin's  Bay  at  least  as  far  north  as  Melville 
Bay  on  the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  where  on  June  9th,  Lindsay  (1911,  p.  132)  mentions  seeing 
a  single  one,  as  an  unusual  occurrence.  It  is  said  to  be  absent  from  the  Newfoundland  waters 
from  January  to  the  last  of  May. 


206  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters. 

In  general,  Finback  Whales  do  not  approach  our  coasts  closely  except  near  outlying  islands 
or  the  outstretched  arm  of  Cape  Cod,  which  projects  as  a  narrow  strip  of  land  many  miles 
out  to  sea  and  by  its  recurved  tip  seems  often  to  intercept  schools  of  whales  moving  at  some 
distance  eastward  of  the  general  coast  line.  Fishermen  with  whom  I  have  spoken,  agree  that 
the  Finbacks  are  usually  seen  at  some  distance  from  shore.  Mr.  George  Dobson,  of  Rock- 
port,  Mass.,  tells  me  that  though  he  has  often  seen  them  well  offshore  they  rarely  come  in  as 
near  as  the  outer  islands.  They  particularly  frequent  areas  where  the  plankton  is  most  abun- 
dant. Off  Cape  Ann  and  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  Gulf  of  Maine  seem  to  be  favorite  haunts, 
and  particularly  the  waters  south  and  east  of  Cape  Cod.  Whales  seem  rarely  to  enter  Long 
Island  Sound  from  the  western  end  as  their  general  movement  is  too  far  to  seaward,  but  they 
are  sometimes  found  at  the  eastern  entrance,  as  far  west  as  Block  Island,  R.  I.,  or  eastern 
Connecticut,  but  records  for  the  latter  State  are  few.  Major  E.  A.  Mearns  sends  me  the  note 
that  Captain  B.  F.  Gardner  who  was  pilot  and  captain  of  the  steamboat  George  W.  Donaldson, 
running  between  Block  Island  and  Newport,  R.  I.,  from  1880  to  1896,  reported  that  almost 
every  year  Finbacks  were  seen  on  this  run,  usually  in  pairs,  or  in  schools  of  from  six  to  twenty. 
Whales  often  are  seen  from  the  Nantucket  shores,  or  occasionally  from  the  Maine  islands,  but 
it  is  seldom  that  they  are  seen  from  the  mainland.  Nevertheless  individuals  now  and  then 
come  close  in  and  may  even  enter  the  harbors,  as  they  have  been  known  to  do  at  Eastport, 
Portsmouth,  Gloucester,  New  Haven,  and  elsewhere.  Such  temerity  not  infrequently  results 
in  their  becoming  stranded  and  summarily  dispatched  by  the  'longshoremen. 

The  movements  of  this  species  show  a  rather  marked  periodicity,  for  they  are  much  more 
frequently  seen  in  the  warmer  months  than  in  winter.  Yet  there  seems  to  be  no  definite  migra- 
tion season  as  there  is  with  the  Atlantic  Right  Whale,  for  they  may  be  noted  at  any  tune  of 
year.  In  the  following  pages  are  brought  together  what  definite  records  I  have  found  for  Fin- 
back Whales  in  New  England  waters.  They  can  at  best  represent  but  a  small  fraction  of  the 
known  occurrences,  yet  are  I  think,  sufficiently  numerous  to  indicate  in  a  general  way  the 
seasonal  distribution  of  the  species.  On  page  218  I  have  summarized  these  records  in  tabular 
form  and  discussed  them  in  more  detail.  In  some  cases  where  schools  of  whales  are  reported 
it  is  possible  that  other  species  than  Common  Finbacks  were  present,  but  the  records  are  given 
for  what  they  are  worth. 

1614. —  Captain  John  Smith's  narrative  of  his  voyage  to  New  England  gives  us  the  first 
definite  reference  to  Finback  Whales  on  this  coast.  In  the  month  of  April,  in  this  year,  he 
"chanced  to  arrive"  off  the  coast  of  Maine,  near  Monhegan  Island,  and  here  found  many 
whales  and  "spent  much  time  in  chasing  them."  But  the  whales  proved  not  to  be  the  Right 
Whale  as  he  had  expected,  but  instead  "a  kind  of  jubartes,"  i.  e.  Finbacks,  and  owing  to  their 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALK.  207 

strength  and  swiftness  the  hardy  adventurers  were  unsuccessful  in  their  attempts  to  capture 
any  (('apt.  John  Smith:  A  Description  of  New  England.  London,  1616;  reprint  in  Coll., 
Mass.  Hist,  Soc.,  1837,  ser.  3,  vol.  6,  p.  103). 

1629. —  An  early  reference  quoted  by  True  (1904,  p.  22)  makes  a  brief  mention  of  whales, 
probably  Finbacks  or  Humpbacks,  seen  in  the  Gulf  of  Maine,  a  day's  voyage  to  the  southeast 
of  ('ape  Sable,  and  within  sight  of  the  Maine  coast.  "Thursday  [25th  June]  wind  still  N.  E. 
a  full  and  fresh  gale.  In  the  afternoon  we  had  a  cleare  sight  of  many  islands  and  hills  by  the 
sea  shoare.  Now  we  saw  abundance  of  mackrill,  a  great  store  of  great  whales  puffing  up  water 
as  they  goe,  some  of  them  came  neere  our  shipp;  this  creature  did  astonish  us  that  saw  them 
not  before;  their  back  appeared  like  a  little  island"  (A  True  Relation  of  the  last  Voyage  to  New 
England,  begun  the  25th  of  April,  1629,  written  from  New  England,  July  24,  1629.  Hutchin- 
soifs  Coll.  Orig.  Papers  on  Hist.  Mass.  Bay,  1769).  Shortly  after  the  same  writer  mentions 
again  "huge  whales  going  by  companies  and  puffing  up  water-streames"  (ibid.,  p.  46).  No 
doubt  these  whales,  in  large  schools,  were  Finbacks  following  shoals  of  small  fish  with  the 
mackerel. 

1719. —  A  Finback  Whale  is  reported  washed  ashore  at  Nantasket,  Mass.,  the  last  of 
February  (Boston  Gazette,  Feb.  28,  1719). 

1808. —  "Off  the  Brimbles,  a  whale,  sixty  feet  long  [and  so  a  Finback?],  is  found  dead, 
by  some  men  from  Marblehead.  They  towed  it  to  Salem  neck.  It  was  visited  by  many  from 
this  place,  till  carried  to  Boston  "  (J.  B.  Felt:  Annals  of  Salem,  1845,  ed.  2,  vol.  2,  p.  95). 

1828. —  In  this  year,  apparently,  "a  whale  was  brought  on  shore  at  Whale  Beach,  Swamp- 
scot  t,  on  the  second  of  May.  It  was  sixty  feet  in  length,  and  twenty-five  barrels  of  oil  were 
extracted  from  it"  (A.  Lewis:  History  of  Lynn,  1829,  p.  236).  From  its  length  (60  feet)  it 
seems  probable  that  this  was  a  Finback. 

1833. —  What  may  have  been  a  small  Finback,  forty  feet  in  length,  was  picked  up  at 
sea  and  towed  into  Gloucester  Harbor  about  the  last  of  July  (Nan tucket  Inquirer,  July  31, 
1S33). 

A  large  Finback  was  seen  off  Whitehead  Light,  Maine,  by  the  schooner  Experiment  bound 
from  Salem  to  Northport,  Maine,  in  early  August.  "The  whale  ran  upon  the  rocks  near  the 
light,  and  after  floundering  some  time,  slipped  off  and  came  close  to  the  schooner,  evidently 
not  a  little  agitated,  throwing  himself  out  of  the  water  as  he  approached,  and  giving  the  vessel 
a  sensible  shock"  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  Aug.  10,  1833). 

From  a  Haverhill  paper  comes  the  report  of  three  whales  seen  in  Massachusetts  Bay  in 
the  first  half  of  August  —  a  large  one  and  two  smaller  ones.  According  to  Capt.  Ezra  Smith, 
who  made  the  report,  the  large  whale  was  estimated  at  some  70  feet  in  length  (Nantucket 
Inquirer,  Aug.  21,  1833).  Probably  they  were  Finbacks. 

1834. —  An  item  in  the  New  Haven  Herald  of  about  the  5th  of  May  gives  an  account 


208  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

of  a  whale,  "about  60  feet  in  length,"  that  came  into  the  New  Haven  harbor  at  that  time. 
Three  boats  put  out  in  pursuit,  and  one  "had  approached  in  position  to  harpoon  him,  when  a 

gun  from  one  of  the  other  boats  caused  the  animal  to  sheer Passing  by  the  wharf,  he  struck 

aground  near  the  shore,  where  he  was  attacked  and  killed"  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  May  10, 
1834).     From  its  length  (60  feet),  it  is  probable  that  this  may  have  been  a  Finback. 

The  Gloucester  Telegram  for  1834,  recounts  that  a  "whale  more  than  sixty  feet  in  length, 
of  the  fin-back  species,  was  towed  into  our  harbor.  .  .  .by  a  fishing  vessel"  about  the 25th  of 
June.  The  item  adds,  "it  had  apparently  been  dead  for  some  time." 

Shortly  after,  about  the  5th  of  July,  a  "large  whale,"  probably  also  a  Finback,  "entered 
Gloucester  Harbor  and  proceeded  up  as  far  as  Five  Pound  Island.  He  was  attacked  by  a 
number  of  men  in  a  small  boat,  who  fastened  to  him  with  a  harpoon.  The  whale  towed  them 
with  great  velocity  to  the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  when  not  having  a  proper  instrument  where- 
with to  despatch  him,  they  were  obliged  to  cut"  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  July  9,  1834). 

1836. —  According  to  the  Newburyport  Herald,  "a  large  Finback  Whale"  was  captured 
at  the  mouth  of  Portsmouth  Harbor  about  the  20th  of  May.  Two  boats  manned  by  eleven 
men  chased  it  for  five  hours.  A  Nantucket  whaleman,  Charles  H.  Gardner,  threw  two  harpoons 
into  it  and  after  an  hour's  struggle  it  succumbed.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  was  a  Humpback 
Whale,  for  its  length  is  given  as  but  35  feet  notwithstanding  it  was  said  to  be  "large." 

1842. —  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  July  9, 1842  (vol.  3,  no.  28)  records  the  finding  of  a  dead 
Finback,  about  55  feet  long,  near  Plymouth,  June  25th.  It  was  towed  to  Provincetown  where 
its  blubber  was  removed.  A  few  days  afterward  a  second  dead  Finback  was  picked  up  by  a 
Cohasset  fishing  schooner.  Both  whales  had  the  lower  jaw  badly  broken,  due  as  some  thought, 
to  a  fight  between  the  two. 

1846. — About  the  10th  of  December  "two  large  Finbacks  were  seen  playing  side  by  side 
in  Provincetown  harbor."  One  of  these  was  killed  and  reported  to  be  over  fifty  feet  long 
(Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  26,  no.  142,  Dec.  14,  1846). 

1854. —  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  July  7,  1854  (vol.  34,  no.  80)  records  the  capture  of 
a  "large  Finback  Whale"  a  short  distance  outside  Nantucket  Harbor,  on  July  6th. 

1866. —  A  Finback  Whale  was  seen  off  Provincetown  on  November  17th  and  although 
struck  by  a  harpoon  from  a  boat,  it  managed  to  clear  itself  and  escape.  Several  others  had 
been  seen  in  Provincetown  Harbor  within  a  few  days  previously  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol. 
35,  no.  137,  Nov.  21,  1855). 

1856. —  About  May  25th,  a  Finback  Whale  was  reported  by  Capt.  Luther  Bowman,  Jr., 
of  Mattapoisett.  It  came  within  an  oar's  length  of  his  boat  off  Bird  Island,  Mass,  and  "ap- 

* 

peared  of  a  size  to  yield  25  or  30  bbls.  of  oil"  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  36,  no.  90,  May  26, 
1856). 

About  November  20th,  a  "dispatch  by  the  Cape  Cod  Marine  Line  says  that  a  large  school 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  209 

of  Finback  Whales  passed  by  Highland  Light  [Cape  Cod],  Friday,  bound  north"  (Nantucket 
Inquirer,  vol.  36,  no.  142,  Nov.  24,  1856). 

1857. —  About  April  15th,  Finback  Whales  came  into  Province  town  Harbor.  Two  were 
harpooned  but  escaped  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  37,  no.  41,  Apl.  20,  1857). 

1858. —  About  March  25th,  "a  Finback  Whale,  62  feet  in  length,  was  found  ashore  on 
tlic  south  side  of  Martha's  Vineyard."  It  was  estimated  to  yield  some  25  barrels  of  oil  worth 
5400. 

October  28th,  "a  large  whale"  was  reported  off  Point  Judith,  in  Long  Island  Sound.  It 
remained  in  sight  for  some  while  and  when  last  seen  was  proceeding  in  the  direction  of  Block 
Island.  Probably  it  was  a  Finback,  though  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  this  definitely. 

1859.—  Professor  A.  E.  Verrill  writes  (The  Bermuda  Islands,  1902,  p.  275)  that  in  late 
July  and  early  August  he  observed  at  the  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  Fundy  large  schools  of  Hump- 
I 'arks  with  some  Finbacks.  "They  were  especially  numerous  at  the  seining  grounds  known 
as  the  'Ripplings'  east  of  Grand  Menan  Island,  towards  the  center  of  the  Bay,  where  the  strong 
opposed  tidal  currents  make  a  large  area  of  very  rough  water  during  flood  tide."  The  whales 
\vcre  feeding  on  herring  and  shrimps  that  had  gathered  here. 

1861.—  About  June  20th,  a  Finback,  63  feet  in  length  was  found  on  the  beach  at  Smith's 
Point,  Nantucket.  It  had  evidently  been  dead  several  days. 

1868. —  About  October  25th,  four  Finback  Whales  were  seen  off  Nantucket  and  unsuc- 
cessfully pursued  by  a  boat's  crew  from  the  town  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  49, 
no.  18,  Oct.  31,  1868). 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  a  Finback  over  sixty  feet  long  was  lanced  and  killed  by  boats 
pursuing  Blackfish  at  Cape  Cod.  It  made  about  twenty  barrels  of  oil  (G.  B.  Goode:  Fisheries 
and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1884,  sect.  1,  p.  28). 

1870. —  April  1st,  a  Finback  was  picked  up  dead  near  Chatham,  Mass.,  by  a  Nantucket 
schooner.  It  measured  about  63  feet  in  length  and  yielded  about  22  barrels  of  oil.  The  cause 
of  its  death  was  not  discovered  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  50,  nos.  40,  41,  Apl.  2 
and  9,  1870). 

About  October  20th,  a  whale  was  captured  about  ten  miles  off  Gloucester,  and  was  towed 
to  Boston. 

1871. —  About  the  20th  of  October  two  dead  whales  were  found  in  Nantucket  waters. 
One  drifted  ashore  at  Siasconset,  the  other  was  picked  up  in  the  vicinity  of  Tuckernuck  Shoals. 
From  the  small  amount  of  oil  produced,  it  is  probable  that  both  were  Finbacks  (Nantucket 
Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  52,  no.  11,  Sept.  9,  1871). 

A  Finback  captured  off  Gloucester,  Mass.,  in  October  was  made  the  subject  of  a  memoir 
by  Dr.  Thomas  Dwight  (Mem.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  1872,  vol.  2,  p.  203-230,  pis.  6,  7)  and 
its  mounted  skeleton  is  preserved  in  the  Society's  Museum. 


210  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

November  25th,  a  whale  of  this  species  came  ashore  dead  at  Point  Shirley,  Boston  Har- 
bor (T.  Dwight:  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  1872,  vol.  15,  p.  26-27). 

1872. —  About  the  10th  of  December,  a  Finback  appeared  in  Provincetown  Harbor  and 
at  once  became  the  object  of  pursuit  by  a  boat's  crew  under  the  leadership  of  Capt.  Isaac 
Fisher.  After  receiving  three  lance  thrusts  the  whale  finally  parted  the  harpoon  line  and 
escaped  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  53,  no.  24,  Dec.  14,  1872). 

The  Boston  Semi- Weekly  Advertiser  of  February  27,  1872,  reports  a  "large  Finback 
Whale,  forty  feet  in  length"  that  got  aground  on  the  flats  near  Wellfleet,  Mass. 

1873. —  "A  Connecticut  paper,  dated  August  16,  1873,  states  that  the  skipper  of  the  sloop 
Annie,  of  Saybrook,  Conn.,  reports  a  large  school  of  whales  in  close  proximity  to  home.  Mon- 
day, while  midway  between  Southeast  Point,  Block  Island,  and  Montauk,  a  school  of  whales, 
numbering  probably  thirty-five,  was  seen  from  the  Annie's  deck,  gamboling  near  the  Block 
Island  shore,  where  they  had  been  lured,  it  is  supposed,  by  the  prospect  of  a  good  feeding- 
ground.  In  the  school  very  few  Finbacks  or  Humpbacked  whales  were  to  be  seen.  The 
majority  were  large  whales,  some  of  them  being  not  less  than  70  feet  in  length.  Boatmen 
report  it  as  a  common  occurrence  to  see  two  or  three  Finbacks  in  company  in  the  race,  but  the 
appearance  of  so  many  large  whales  is  a  new  experience"  (A.  Howard  Clark,  in  Goode's  Fisher- 
ies and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  5,  vol.  2,  p.  48). 

1874. —  During  the  latter  half  of  October  in  this  year  "large  schools  of  whales"  (probably 
mostly  Finbacks)  were  reported  seen  from  Noman's  Land,  Gay  Head,  and  Cuttyhunk,  Mass. 
"In  Vineyard  Sound  large  numbers  were  seen  near  the  shores  and  the  light  boat  off  Sow  and 
Pigs."  On  October  23d,  ten  were  seen  at  one  time.  One,  a  Finback,  was  shot  with  a  bomb- 
lance  near  Cuttyhunk.  In  all  four  were  shot,  but  they  sunk  and  were  not  recovered.  It  was 
said  that  the  great  shoals  of  herring  then  in  the  Sound  spawning  had  attracted  the  whales 
(Forest  and  Stream,  vol.  3,  p.  188,  Oct.  29, 1874). 

1875. —  About  the  15th  of  August  a  whale  was  washed  ashore  on  the. south  side  of  Smith's 
Island,  near  Tuckernuck,  Mass.  The  report  states  that  it  was  a  Sulphurbottom,  but  its 
length  given  as  42  feet,  would  seem  to  render  this  doubtful.  It  yielded  but  three  barrels  of  oil 
(Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  56,  no.  8,  Aug.  21,  1875). 

1876. —  About  the  15th  of  October,  a  Finback  was  seen  near  shore  at  Quidnet,  Nantucket. 
The  same  or  another  Finback  was  seen  in  the  bay  four  days  later  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and 
Mirror,  vol.  57,  no.  17,  Oct.  21,  1876). 

1878. — About  the  25th  of  July  a  dead  Finback  Whale  was  discovered  floating  off  Sankoty, 
Martha's  Vineyard  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  59,  no.  5,  Aug.  3,  1878). 

A  "small  Finback"  was  reported  as  seen  for  several  days  in  succession  off  the  east  side  of 
Nantucket,  during  the  last  week  of  October.  It  may  have  been  of  some  other  species  than 
that  under  consideration  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  1,  no.  6,  Oct.  31,  1878), 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  211 

1879. —  September  12th,  four  were  seen  swimming  and  spouting  in  Provincetown  Harbor 
(( !.  H.  ( Joode:  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1884,  sect.  1,  p.  28). 

About  November  5th,  "a  large  Finback  Whale"  was  reported  as  seen  by  Captain  Obed 
Swuin  off  the  south  shore  of  Nan  tucket  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  60,  no.  19,  Nov. 
8,  1879). 

A  mounted  skeleton  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  was  obtained  at  Cape  Cod  in 
tliis  year. 

1880. —  About  March  25th,  a  large  Finback,  estimated  to  yield  25  barrels  of  oil,  was  found 
flouting  near  the  South  Shoal  Lightship,  off  Nantucket  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  2,  no.  27, 
Apl.  1,  1880). 

On  April  18th  a  very  large  Finback  stranded  near  the  Life  Saving  Station  at  Wakefield, 
R.  I.,  according  to  the  record  of  Mr.  H.  M.  Knowles,  Keeper.  "Its  belly  was  a  yellowish  white 
resembling  porcelain"  (so  a  Finback).  It  was  supposed  that  it  had  been  on  exhibition  some- 
where, as  its  body  cavity  "contained  several  kerosene  barrels  to  round  it  out"  (Major  E.  A. 
Mearns). 

A.  Howard  Clark,  writing  from  Gloucester,  Mass.,  May  13,  1880,  says,  "Whales  have 
recently  been  numerous  in  this  vicinity,  and  shore  boats  report  many  of  them  swimming  about. 
Four  dead  ones  have  been  towed  into  this  harbor;  the  largest  was  65  feet  long."  (Bull.  U.  S. 
Fish  Comm.,  1884,  vol.  4,  p.  404).  The  last  from  its  length  was  doubtless  a  Finback,  and 
the  others  were  probably  the  same  species,  in  large  part  at  least. 

About  June  20th,  a  Finback  some  sixty  feet  long  washed  ashore  on  Nantucket  to  the 
southward  of  Maddequecham  Valley.  Probably  it  had  been  killed  outside  the  Cape  by  the 
Provincetown  whalers  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  2,  no.  30,  June  24,  1880). 

"Early  in  March,  1880,  there  came  into  Provincetown  Bay  and  harbor  immense  quanti- 
ties of  herring  and  shrimps.  They  were  followed  by  a  great  number  of  finback  whales,  which 
were  here  most  of  the  tune  in  greater  or  less  numbers  until  about  t.he  middle  of  May,  when 

they  all  left Early  in  June  immense  quantities  of  sand  eels  (Ammodytes)  came  in  our  harbor 

and  bay  [Provincetown]  and  remained  here  several  days.  About  the  10th  of  June  there  appeared 
plenty  of  whales,  feeding  on  the  sand  eels."  Forty-eight  in  all  were  killed  by  the  Provincetown 
whalers  by  the  use  of  bomb-lances  (A.  Howard  Clark,  in  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Indus- 
tries of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  2,  p.  230). 

A  further  echo  of  the  activities  of  the  local  whalers  comes  in  a  note  from  Gloucester,  Mass., 
under  date  of  July  23d:  "Recently  a  carcass  of  a  Finback  Whale  55  feet  long  drifted  ashore 
on  Long  Beach,  some  ten  miles  from  here,  opposite  Milk  Island"  (A.  Howard  Clark:  Notes 
on  the  Fisheries  of  Gloucester,  Mass.  Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1884,  vol.  4,  p.  407).  The  jaws 
of  what  is  probably  this  specimen,  are  now  exhibited  in  the  museum  of  the  Peabody  Academy 
at  Salem. 


212  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  gives  me  a  note  of  a  Finback  that  he  examined  on  December  4th 
at  Litchfield's  dock,  Boston. 

1881.—  "In  the  spring  of  1881,  the  whales  came  into  the  [Provincetown]  bay  again,  but 
not  in  so  large  numbers  [as  in  1880,  see  antea].  Fifteen  were  killed  which  furnished  300  barrels 

of  oil No  whales  have  come  in  of  late"  (1887)  (A.  Howard  Clark,  in  Goode's  Fisheries  and 

Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  2,  p.  230). 

About  the  25th  of  May  a  dead  Finback,  estimated  as  about  sixty  feet  long  was  found 
floating  a  few  miles  outside  Nantucket  Harbor.  It  finally  washed  ashore  near  Capaum  Pond 
and  since  there  were  no  tryworks  at  Nantucket,  it  was  towed  to  Dennisport  on  Cape  Cod 
to  obtain  the  oil  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  3,  no.  34,  May  26,  1881). 

In  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  are  the  bones  of  a  foetal  Finback  collected  by  Mr. 
J.  Henry  Blake,  at  Provincetown  about  the  middle  of  June.  In  a  letter,  accompanying  the 
specimen,  and  dated  September  8,  1881,  Mr.  Blake  states  that  fifty-seven  whales  were  killed 
and  brought  in  there  that  spring. 

The  Nantucket  Journal  of  November  10th  (vol.  4,  no.  6)  records  that  a  few  days  previously 
several  whales  were  seen  sporting  off  the  south  side  of  Nantucket. 

Professor  J.  S.  Kingsley  informs  me  that  these  whales  were  abundant  in  Ipswich  Bay 
in  August  of  this  year. 

1882. —  A  report  from  Gloucester,  Mass.,  under  date  of  May  7th,  notes  that  "whales 
are  close  to  the  shore"  (S.  J.  Martin:  Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1882,  vol.  2,  p.  17).  No  doubt 
these  were  Finbacks  following  the  schools  of  fish  in  toward  shore. 

Whales,  probably  Finbacks,  were  said  to  have  been  seen  in  numbers  about  Block  Island, 
presumably  in  the  early  summer  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  6,  no.  42,  July  17,  1884). 

According  to  J.  F.  Brown  a  male  "Finback  calf"  was  entangled  in  the  net  of  a  fish  weir 
in  Provincetown  Harbor,  early  in  October,  and  was  drowned  (Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1883, 
vol.  3,  p.  411).  The  size  is  not  given,  and  although  the  chance  of  its  being  a  Little  Piked  Whale 
is  not  excluded,  yet  Mr.  Brown's  testimony  may  perhaps  be  accepted. 

Major  E.  A.  Mearns  sends  me  a  note  of  a  large  female  Finback  (said  to  be  over  100  feet  in 
length!)  that  stranded  on  the  east  shore  of  Narragansett  Pier,  R.  I.  A  cord  or  two  of  pine  wood 
and  several  loads  of  straw  were  required  to  burn  it  up.  The  exact  date  is  unobtainable. 

1884. —  About  the  10th  of  July,  according  to  the  Nantucket  Journal  (vol.  6,  no.  42,  July 
17,  1884),  "several  whales  were  [seen]  near  Block  Island  and  on  Friday  a  shoal  of  perhaps  20 
played  for  hours  about  a  mile  east  of  the  island.  One  of  the  whales  was  seen  very  closely, 
and  his  length  is  estimated  at  40  or  50  feet.  Whales  were  quite  numerous  in  that  vicinity  two 
years  ago,  but  only  one  or  two  were  seen  last  year.  It  is  stated  that  when  whales  are  seen, 
swordfishing  is  at  its  best,  but  the  reason  for  this  is  not  definitely  known."  Doubtless  these 
were  Finbacks,  in  part  at  least. 

1885. —  In  early  March  and  April,  the  fishermen  at  Gloucester  reported  that  they  had 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  213 

"never  seen  whales  so  numerous  on  the  eastern  shore,"  and  at  least  four  small  steamers  from 
.Maine  and  Cape  Cod  were  in  pursuit  of  them.  Many  were  killed,  which  from  the  measure- 
ments and  yield  of  oil,  appear  to  have  been  chiefly  Finbacks  (W.  A.  Wilcox:  Bull.  U.  S.  Fish 
( 'omm.,  1885,  vol.  5,  p.  169;  S.  J.  Martin,  ibid.,  p.  207). 

July  3d,  a  male  Finback  56  feet  long,  came  ashore  at  Mount  Desert  Light  Station,  Maine. 
It  had  probably  been  killed  by  whalers  from  Maine  or  Provincetown  (C.  W.  Smiley:  Bull. 
I.  S.  Fish  Cornm.,  1885,  vol.  5,  p.  337). 

Mr.  John  F.  Holmes,  keeper  of  the  Gurnet  Life  Saving  Station,  4j  miles  northeast  of 
Plymouth,  Mass.,  reports  that  on  July  5th,  schools  of  whales  and  porpoises  appeared  near 
that  station.  The  former  were  no  doubt  Finbacks  in  pursuit  of  small  fish  and  were  followed 
by  mackerel,  of  which  on  July  7th,  "a  large  quantity  was  taken"  (C.  W.  Smiley:  Bull.  U.  S. 
Fish  Comm.,  1885,  vol.  5,  p.  347).  This  same  abundance  of  Finbacks  was  reported  by  Captain 
.!.  W.  Collins,  who  on  July  13th,  found  these  and  swordfish  in  unusual  numbers  between  Brown's 
Bank  and  the  northeastern  extremity  of  George's  Bank.  "As  many  as  20  whales  were  seen 
at  one  time  during  the  morning,  and  a  still  greater  number  were  seen  during  the  afternoon. 
At  station  2528  [lat.  41°  47'  N.;  long.  65°  37'  30"  W.]  they  were  very  numerous,  apparently 
feed  ing  on  small  Crustacea,  probably  from  40  to  50  whales  being  in  sight  at  one  time.  They 
v. •(>!•<>  all  Finbacks,  so  far  as  I  could  tell.  Their  movements  were  sluggish,  as  they  'played' 
back  and  forth  in  the  tide  rips,  with  their  mouths  open,  the  upper  jaw  just  at  the  surface, 
srn..ping  in  'feed'  "  (J.  W.  Collins:  Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1886,  vol.  6,  p.  381). 

1885. —  On  July  7th,  Capt.  Joshua  Nickerson  shot  one  in  Massachusetts  Bay.  Many 
squid  in  Provincetown  Harbor  at  this  tune  (J.  Henry  Blake). 

The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  65,  no.  48,  May  30,  1885)  recounts  that  on  May 
121  h,  the  New  York  pilot  boat,  Alexander  M.  Lawrence,  No.  4,  when  nearly  twenty  miles  east  of 
Nantucket,  and  making  about  thirteen  knots,  came  into  collision  with  a  large  whale.  The 
shock  was  so  great  that  the  vessel  careened  until  the  water  nearly  reached  the  hatches.  Those 
below  immediately  rushed  on  deck  and  looking  aft,  saw  the  whale  rolling  and  tumbling  about. 
Probably  it  was  one  of  the  large  Rorquals. 

About  July  9th,  Capt.  John  Winslow  while  out  swordfishing,  encountered  a  whale  some 
nine  miles  southwest  of  Muskeget.  The  species  is  not  mentioned,  but  it  was  presumably  a 
Finback  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  7,  no.  41,  July  9,  1885). 

A  dead  whale  was  ashore  at  Nobadeer,  Nantucket,  about  the  first  of  September  (Nantucket 
Journal,  vol.  7,  no.  49,  Sept.  3,  1885).  It  was  supposed  to  be  the  same  one  previously  exhibited 
at  Siasconsct,  and  doubtless  was  one  of  the  many  Finbacks  shot  by  the  Provincetown  whalers. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  a  Finback  was  seen  in  Easton's  Bay,  R.  I.,  by  a  number  of 
people,  including  Mr.  Philip  Peckham,  Jr.,  on  whose  authority  Major  E.  A.  Mearns  reports 
the  fact  to  me. 

1886. —  Whales  were  "numerous  off  the  New  England  coast"  in  June  of  this  year,  and 


214  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

a  number  were  killed  by  three  steamers  engaged  in  their  pursuit.     These  were  Finbacks,  in 
large  part  at  least  (W.  A.  Wilcox:  Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1886,  vol.  6,  p.  201). 

1887.—  "Whales"  are  reported  near  Nantucket  on  two  occasions,  but  no  indication  of 
the  species  is  given.  Three  were  reported  by  the  Nantucket  Lightship  crew  about  April  15th, 
and  shortly  after  a  large  whale  was  seen  from  Siasconset  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror, 
vol.  67,  no.  42,  Apl.  16,  1887;  Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  9,  no.  29,  Apl.  21,  1887). 

1888. —  "Whales"  were  sporting  in  the  waters  off  Surfside,  Nantucket,  about  April  20th, 
and  although  the  Tuckernuck  whalers  came  to  attempt  a  capture,  they  were  unsuccessful 
(Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  10,  no.  30,  Apl.  26,  1888).  No  indication  of  the  species  is  given,  but 
presumably  they  were  Finbacks. 

About  June  5th,  the  steam  whaler  A.  B.  Nicker  son  fell  in  with  a  school  of  ten  or  more 
Finbacks  off  Cape  Cod  and  killed  a  large  one  which  sank  at  once  after  being  shot  (Nantucket 
Journal,  vol.  10,  no.  36,  June  7,  1888). 

1889. —  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  of  June  22d  (vol.  69,  no.  51)  notes  that 
"whales  are  reported  numerous  on  the  coast."  No  doubt  this  refers  mainly  to  Finbacks. 

About  the  5th  of  August,  a  Finback  was  seen  off  Martha's  Vineyard  (Nantucket  Journal, 
vol.  11,  no.  44,  Aug.  8,  1889). 

1890. —  About  the  last  of  April,  a  dead  Finback  was  discovered  floating  near  Egg  Rock, 
by  Swampscott  fishermen,  who  towed  it  into  Deer  Cove,  Lynn.  It  had  been  shot  by  a  Province- 
town  whaler,  and  had  sunk,  to  rise  to  the  surface  a  few  days  later,  much  distended  by  gases 
(Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  12,  no.  31,  May  1,  1890). 

1892. —  About  September  15th,  a  Finback  Whale  was  seen  spouting  off  Surfside,  Nantucket 
(Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  73,  no.  12,  Sept.  17,  1892). 

1894. —  A  large  Finback  is  reported  killed  off  the  "Gully"  on  September  12th  by  Capt. 
E.  W.  Smith  of  Provincetown  (Boston  Daily  Globe,  Apl.  3,  1895). 

A  small  Finback  was  seen  in  the  waters  back  of  the  Nantucket  Harbor  bar  about  the 
20th  of  April.  It  may  have  been  of  this  species  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  16,  no.  30,  Apl.  26, 
1894). 

A  school  of  Finbacks  is  reported  off  Cape  Cod  during  late  September.  At  least  one  or 
two  were  killed  by  whalers  from  Provincetown.  The  Nantucket  Journal  (vol.  16,  no.  52, 
Oct.  4,  1894)  notes  that  sharks  had  partially  eaten  one  of  those  recovered. 

1895. —  The  first  Finback  of  the  season  was  killed  in  Massachusetts  Bay  April  12th  by 
Capt.  E.  W.  Smith  of  Provincetown  (Provincetown  Beacon). 

During  a  few  days  previous  to  May  10th,  five  were  killed  by  the  Provincetown  whaler 
A.  B.  Nickerson  in  the  neighboring  waters,  and  two  or  three  more  were  captured  at  the  same 
time  by  other  parties. 

Under  date  of  December  30th,  Keeper  McLaughlin  writes  that  "for  ten  days  a  large  school 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  215 

of  herring  and  whales  has  been  off  this  station"  (i.  e.  Southern  Head,  Grand  Manan)  (H.  F. 
Moore:  Kept.  U.  S.  Comm.  Fish,  for  1896, 1898,  p.  404).     The  whales  were  doubtless  Finbacks. 

1896. —  A  "good-sized  school  of  whales,"  probably  both  Finbacks  and  Humpbacks,  is 
reported  about  Cape  Cod  April  23d,  following  the  herring  school.  At  least  two  Finbacks 
were  killed  at  this  time  by  Provincetown  whalers. 

In  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  at  New  York  is  the  mounted  skeleton  of 
a  Finback  captured  off  Provincetown  in  April  of  this  year.  Figures  of  this  specimen  appear 
in  the  American  Museum  Journal  (1907,  vol.  7,  pp.  94,  95). 

A  Finback  drifted  ashore  at  Nantasket  Beach,  Mass.,  on  October  5th.  It  was  about 
sixty-five  feet  long  (Boston  Journal,  Oct.  5,  1896). 

1897. —  On  June  2d,  a  Finback  entered  Narragansett  Bay,  and  was  seen  by  many  resi- 
dents of  Newport  and  Jamestown,  R.  I.  (Major  E.  A.  Mearns). 

1898. —  On  October  10th,  or  thereabouts,  "a  number  of  whales"  probably  Finbacks,  were 
seen  in  the  waters  off  Great  Point,  Nantucket  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  79,  no.  16, 
Oct.  15,  1898). 

1899. —  About  March  1st,  several  Finbacks  were  seen  off  Provincetown  Harbor,  and  a 
fortnight  later  two  large  Finbacks  entered  the  harbor  itself,  in  pursuit  of  scattered  schools  of 
small  herring.  For  an  hour  or  two  they  rushed  about  in  plain  view  of  many  fishermen,  who, 
however,  made  no  attempt  to  capture  them  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  21,  no.  24,  Mar.  16,  1899). 

On  March  llth,  one  came  into  Narragansett  Bay,  R.  I.,  and  was  seen  by  the  passengers 
on  the  tugboat  Monroe  (Major  E.  A.  Mearns). 

1900. —  On  August  28th,  a  Finback  Whale  came  ashore  at  Point  Judith,  R.  I.  It  was 
51  feet  long  (H.  M.  Knowles  in  letter  to  Major  E.  A.  Mearns). 

1901.—  A  note  in  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  81,  no.  30,  Jan.  20,  1901) 
reports  that  "whales  and  herring  have  appeared  off  Provincetown.  The  fishermen  have 
caught  many  of  the  latter."  These,  no  doubt,  were  Finbacks,  an  early  school,  following  the 
fish. 

About  the  middle  of  April,  "a  number  of  whales,"  probably  Finbacks,  were  seen  dis- 
porting themselves  in  the  waters  off  Great  Neck,  Nantucket,  and  Tuckernuck.  They  remained 
two  days,  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  capture  them  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  81, 
no.  42,  Apl.  20,  1901). 

1902. —  Mr.  M.  C.  Atwood,  of  Provincetown,  while  aboard  the  steamer  Cape  Cod  on  his 
way  to  Boston,  saw  a  Finback  come  up  so  close  to  the  vessel  that  he  "could  easily  have  jumped 
on  to  him."  This  was  during  the  summer. 

The  Yarmouth  Register,  quoted  by  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  83,  no.  22, 
Nov.  29,  1902),  reports  the  stranding  of  a  large  whale  carcass  on  the  beach  at  Sandwich  in 
mid-November,  and  shortly  after  a  second  dead  whale  came  ashore  at  Gloucester. 


216  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

1904. —  About  June  20th,  a  "Finback  Whale,  about  forty  feet  long,  drifted  ashore  on  the 
south  side  of  Tuckernuck ....  The  body  was  badly  blasted,  and  from  its  appearance  it  is 
thought  to  have  been  one  of  those  with  which  schooner  Adelia  T.  Carkton  was  in  collision  last 
week  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  84,  no.  52,  June  25,  1904).  A  later  report  from 
the  same  source  (ibid.,  vol.  85,  no.  19,  Nov.  5,  1904)  states  that  since  July,  whales  have  been 
seen  at  various  points  along  the  eastern  coast  of  New  England. 

1905. —  About  the  first  of  February,  a  large  school  of  Finback  Whales  was  reported  in 
Provincetown  Bay,  where  they  were  said  to  be  pursuing  the  large  herring,  then  in  those  waters 
(Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  85,  no.  32,  Feb.  4,  1905).  This  school  was  said  to  have 
been  the  largest  seen  in  the  Bay  since  1880.  How  long  the  whales  remained  does  not  appear 
but  a  dispatch  to  the  Boston  Herald,  from  Provincetown,  under  date  of  March  17th,  states 
that  the  men  on  the  flatfish  dredging  fleet  had  seen  a  large  school  in  Cape  Cod  Bay  the  two 
weeks  previous.  Captain  Mayo  of  the  dredger  Little  Jennie  reports  at  least  a  dozen  Finbacks 
blowing  at  the  same  moment,  March  16th.  "It  is  supposed  they  have  come  from  off  shore 
in  pursuit  of  herring." 

The  highly  decomposed  carcass  of  what  was  probably  one  of  this  same  school  of  Finbacks, 
came  ashore  at  Old  Orchard,  Maine,  June  8,  1905,  and  furnished  the  newspapers  with  material 
for  a  sensational  account  of  the  "Sea  Serpent."  A  view  of  its  skull  is  shown  in  one  paper,  and 
is  apparently  that  of  a  Finback  Whale. 

A  Finback  Whale  between  fifty  and  sixty  feet  long  was  found  ashore  at  Gay  Head, 
Martha's  Vineyard,  about  the  5th  of  August.  The  cause  of  its  death  was  not  known 
(Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  86,  no.  7,  Aug.  12,  1905). 

1906. —  The  following  references  to  whales  off  the  eastern  coast  of  Massachusetts,  proba- 
bly apply  to  the  Finback. 

About  the  middle  of  June,  the  steamer  Admiral  Sampson,  while  running  through  a  fog  off 
Chatham,  nearly  ran  upon  a  large  whale  as  it  rose  to  spout.  As  it  dove  its  huge  body  was  just 
grazed  by  the  starboard  side  of  the  vessel  and  it  almost  at  once  came  again  to  the  surface  and 
followed  the  vessel  for  some  distance  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  86,  no.  22,  June  16, 
1906). 

From  the  same  source  comes  the  report  of  a  whale  that  became  entangled  in  one  of  the 
strings  of  thirty  nets  which  stretched  for  nearly  a  mile  out  into  Provincetown  Bay  from  the 
bow  of  the  mackerel  drift-netter  Letha  May.  During  the  night  a  whale  blundered  into  the 
net,  and  became  so  enwrapped  in  the  countless  number  of  meshes  that  it  was  unable  to  rise 
to  the  surface  for  air  and  after,  a  long  struggle,  died  or  became  so  exhausted  that  a  fisherman 
who  was  tending  the  net  succeeded  in  clearing  the  whale  which  sank  at  once  (Nantucket 
Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  86,  no.  23,  June  23,  1906). 

When  off  the  Nantucket  Shoals,  about  the  20th  of  August,  the  Atlantic  Transport  liner 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  217 

Minncliaha  passed  through  a  large  school  of  whales,  many  of  which  came  very  near  the  vessel 
Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  87,  no.  8,  Aug.  25,  1906). 

1908. —  About  the  5th  of  July  a  sixty-foot  whale,  presumably  a  Finback,  burst  violently 
into  the  floating  fish  trap  of  a  Provincetown  fisherman  and  caused  great  havoc.  The  whale 
finally  escaped  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  89,  no.  2,  July  11,  1908). 

The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  of  September  5th,  1908  (vol.  89,  no.  10)  reports  that 
whales  had  been  seen  occasionally  to  the  south  of  the  island  during  the  few  weeks  preceding 
by  the  local  fisherman.  A  dead  whale  was  reported  at  this  time  as  having  been  passed  about 
five  miles  cast-northeast  of  Nantucket  by  an  Italian  steamer  bound  for  New  York. 

1909. —  About  the  middle  of  July,  a  large  school  of  whales  was  reported  off  Nantucket 
South  Shoal  Lightship,  by  the  United  Fruit  Company's  steamer  Esparto,  from  Costa  Rica. 
"The  great  school  of  whales  stretched  out  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  The  leviathans  were 
heading  north  and  were  evidently  in  pursuit  of  mackerel.  Some  of  them  moved  right  along 
with  the  steamer  for  several  miles.  The  officers  of  the  steamer  said  they  had  never  in  their 
experience  seen  so  many  whales"  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  90,  no.  3,  July  17, 
1909).  If  this  report  is  to  be  credited  there  were  evidently  great  numbers  of  whales  in 
the  school,  "hundreds"  according  to  the  account,  probably  Finbacks  in  large  part  at  least. 

1910. —  The  steamer  St.  Hugo  about  the  7th  of  August,  reported  a  school  of  whales  some 
eighteen  miles  outside  Highland  Light,  Cape  Cod,  according  to  Boston  papers. 

According  to  the  Boston  Journal  of  October  1st,  1910,  two  large  whales  had  been  observed  in 
and  about  Eastport  Harbor,  Maine,  for  nearly  a  month  preceding  until  during  the  last  week  of 
September  their  number  was  augmented  to  six.  Probably  they  were  Finbacks  in  part  at  least. 

1912. —  On  January  17th,  a  Finback  Whale  was  captured  near  Carlon's  Island,  three  and 
a  half  miles  from  Eastport,  Maine.  It  had  entered  a  shallow  channel  to  the  north  of  Eastport, 
and  on  the  fall  of  the  tide  was  left  stranded.  Two  Indians  killed  the  whale  and  its  oil  was  sub- 
sequently tried  out.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Roscoe  C.  Emery  for  particulars  of  this  capture. 

Dr.  Henry  B.  Bigelow  furnishes  me  a  number  of  records  of  whales  seen  in  the  Gulf  of 
Maine  during  a  month's  cruise  for  oceanographic  investigation,  namely: 

July  15,  two  Finbacks  at  close  range  some  ten  miles  southeast  of  Cape  Ann,  Mass. 

July  16,  one  Finback  about  nine  miles  northeast-by-east  of  Halibut  Point,  Mass. 

July  29,  six  large  Finbacks  were  seen  pursuing  herring  (which  fishermen  were  also  seining 
from  boats)  off  Casco  Bay,  Maine,  about  ten  miles  south-by-east  of  Ragged  Island. 

Aug.  7,  a  Finback  seen  some  five  and  a  half  miles  southeast-by-south  5  south  from  the 
Cape  Elizabeth  whistling  buoy;  another  was  seen  the  same  day  on  Platt's  Bank  off  Cape 
Elizabeth,  Maine. 

Aug.  15,  off  Grand  Manan,  two  large  whales,  apparently  Finbacks,  were  seen;  they  were 
in  pursuit  of  herring  according  to  the  fishermen. 


218 


ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


On  July  21st,  while  crossing  Massachusetts  Bay  by  steamer,  Mr.  George  Nelson  saw 
numbers  of  large  whales,  undoubtedly  in  part,  at  least,  Finbacks.  He  estimated  that  near  a 
hundred  must  have  been  sighted  between  Cape  Cod  and  Boston.  Some  were  close  at  hand,  so 
that  the  high  dorsal  fin  was  clearly  evident.  The  height  of  the  spout  he  thought  would  aver- 
age some  ten  feet.  One  came  so  close  athwart  the  vessel's  bow  that  her  course  was  altered 
slightly  to  avoid  a  collision. 

1913. —  Whales,  some  undoubtedly  Finbacks,  appeared  in  numbers  off  Nantucket  Light- 
ship, where  on  May  19th,  the  Captain  of  the  Norwegian  steamer  Verona  reported  to  have  run 
into  a  school  of  fifty  or  more,  apparently  working  northward.  There  was  said  to  have  been 
a  school  of  whales  in  Cape  Cod  Bay  in  early  June,  possibly  some  of  the  same  lot. 

In  the  last  part  of  August  of  this  year,  Mr.  W.  W.  Welch  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Fisheries 
saw  great  numbers  of  Finbacks  in  the  vicinity  of  South  Shoal  Lightship. 

1914. —  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  reports  seeing  one  in  July  off  Marblehead. 

1915. —  A  school  of  ten  Finbacks  was  seen  close  inshore  from  the  High  Head  Coast  Guard 
Station,  near  Provincetown,  on  July  19th.  "One  of  the  lot,  a  huge  fellow,  came  in  clear  to 
the  inner  bar  [Provincetown  Harbor]  and  there  exposed  much  of  its  body  during  the  succeed- 
ing quarter  hour"  (Provincetown  Advocate,  July  22,  1915). 


Seasonal  Occurrence  of  Finback  Whales, 
(n  indicates  an  indefinite  number,  or  several.) 


Locality 

Year 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

April 

May 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Off  Monhegan  Id.,  Maine 

1G14 

n 

Maine  Coast 

1629 

n 

Nantasket,  Mass. 
Swampscott,  Mass. 

1719 

1828 

1 

1 

Off  Gloucester,  Mass. 

1833 

1 

Off  Whitehead  Light,  Maine 

1833 

1 

Massachusetts  Bay 

1833 

3 

New  Haven  Harbor,  Conn. 

1834 

1 

Off  Gloucester,  Mass. 

1834 

1 

Gloucester  Harbor,  Mass. 

1834 

1 

Portsmouth  Harbor,  N.  H. 

1836 

I? 

Plymouth,  Mass. 

1842 

2 

Provincetown  Harbor,  Mass. 

1846 

9 

Outside  Nantucket  Harbor,  Mass. 

1854 

1 

Provincetown  Harbor  and  vicinity 

1855 

n 

Off  Bird  Id.,  Mass. 

1856 

1 

Off  Highland  Light,  Cape  Cod,  Mass. 

1856 

n 

Provincetown  Harbor,  Mass. 

1857 

n 

COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE. 
Seasonal  Occurrence  of  Finback  Whales. —  Continued. 


219 


Locality 

Year 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

April 

May 

June 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

1858 

1 

OH'  Point  Judith   R   I 

1858 

1? 

1859 

n 

n 

"Null  li's  Point   N"  tin  tucket   lVI<iss 

1861 

1 

1868 

4 

1870 

1 

1870 

1 

1871 

2 

1871 

1 

1871 

1 

1872 

1 

Wellflcet,  Mass. 
Oil'  Block  Id    R  I 

1872 
1873 

1 

n 

1874 

n 

Smith's  Id    near  Tuckorniick   ATuss 

1875 

1 

(  )IV  \antiickrt    Muss 

1876 

a 

(  )(V  \aiituckri    Mass 

1878 

1 

OH  \anluckrt    Mass 

1878 

?i 

(  )iV  \"an  tucket   Mass 

1879 

1 

Provmcetown  Harbor  Mass 

1879 

4 

1880 

n 

n 

n 

n 

Off  Olouccstcr  IVIass 

1880 

n 

1 

1880 

1 

1 

\Yakeficld    R   I 

1880 

1 

Massachusetts  Bay 

1880 

1 

Massachusetts  Bay 

1881 

n 

n 

Ipswic'h  Bav  Atass 

1881 

n 

Off  Nantuckct  Mass 

1881 

1 

n 

Off  Gloucester  Mass 

1882 

n 

OIF  Block  Id  ,  R  I 

1882 

n 

Near  Block  Id  ,  R   I 

1884 

n 

Mass   Bav  and  Maine  Coast 

1885 

n 

n 

Mi    I  )CSITI    Maine 

1885 

1 

Off  Plymouth,  Mass. 

1885 

n 

20  miles  east  of  Nantucket,  Mass. 

1885 

1 

9  miles  S   \V   of  Muskeget   Mass 

1885 

1 

Nan'tucket    Mass 

1885 

1 

New  Knjjland  Coa-,t 

1886 

n 

Near  Nantucket   Mass 

1887 

?T? 

Off  Nantucket,  Mass. 

1888 

n 

(  )ll  '  ape  Cod,  Mass. 

l.sss 

10 

Massachusetts  ('oast 

1889 

n 

(111  Martha's  Vineyard,  Mass. 

1889 

1 

Massachusetts  Bay 

1890 

1 

Off  Nantucket,  Mass. 

1892 

1 

220 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Seasonal  Occurrence  of  Finback   Whales. —  Concluded. 


Locality 

Year 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

April 

May 

Juno 

July 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov 

Dec. 

Off  Cape  Cod,  Mass. 

1894 

Massachusetts  Bay 

1895 

1 

Off  Provincetown,  Mass. 

1895 

n 

South  of  Grand  Manan 

1895 

Off  Cape  Cod,  Mass. 

1896 

n 

Off  Provincetown,  Mass. 

1896 

1 

Nantasket  Beach,  Mass. 

1896 

1 

Narragansett  Bay,  R.  I. 

1897 

1 

Off  Nantucket,  Mass. 

1898 

n 

Narragansett  Bay,  R.  I. 

1899 

1 

Off  Provincetown  Harbor,  Mass 

1899 

n 

Point  Judith,  R.  I. 

1900 

1 

Off  Provincetown,  Mass. 
Off  Nantucket,  Mass. 

1901 
1901 

n 

n 

Sandwich,  Mass. 

1902 

1 

Gloucester,  Mass. 

1902 

1 

Tuckernuck,  Mass. 

1904 

1 

New  England  Coast 

1904 

n 

n 

Provincetown  Bay,  Mass. 
Old  Orchard,  Maine 

1905 
1905 

n 

n 

1 

Gay  Head,  Mass. 

1905 

1 

Off  Chatham,  Mass. 

1906 

1 

Provincetown  Bay 

1906 

1 

Off  Nantucket  Shoals 

1906 

n 

Provincetown,  Mass. 

1908 

1 

South  of  Nantucket,  Mass. 

1908 

n 

Nantucket  South  Shoal 

1909 

n 

Off  Highland  Light,  Mass. 

1910 

n 

« 

Eastport,  Maine 

1910 

6 

Eastport,  Maine 
Off  Cape  Ann,  Mass. 

1912 
1912 

1 

2 

Off  Halibut  Point,  Mass. 

1912 

1 

Off  Casco  Bay,  Maine. 

1912 

6 

Off  Cape  Elizabeth,  Maine. 

1912 

2 

Off  Grand  Manan 

1912 

2 

Cape  Cod  to  Boston,  Mass. 

1912 

n 

Off  Nantucket  Lightship 

1913 

n 

Cape  Cod  Bay 

1913 

n 

Off  South  Shoal  Lightship,  Mass. 

1913 

n 

Off  Marblehead,  Mass. 

1914 

1 

Off  Provincetown,  Mass. 

1915 

10 

Totals 

1  + 

In 

2+ 
In 

3+ 
4n 

5+ 
9n 

6+ 
Cm 

18+ 
7n 

30+ 
5n. 

12+ 
Sn 

12+ 
2n 

13+ 
2n 

4+ 
3n 

4  + 
In 

COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  221 

It  at  once  appears  from  a  consideration  of  this  table  that  Finback  Whales  are  most  com- 
monly met  with  off  the  eastern  coasts  of  New  England  between  April  and  October,  both  in- 
clusive; arc  less  common  in  March  and  November  and  December;  while  in  January  and 
February  they  are  rarely  seen.  These  facts  indicate  that  during  the  colder  months  Finback 
W Males  leave  our  shores  in  some  degree,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  temperature,  although 
a  determining  cause,  is  of  indirect  influence  only  to  the  extent  that  it  affects  the  distribution 
or  abundance  of  the  organisms  on  which  the  whales  subsist.  The  deposit  of  fat  or  blubber 
which  encases  the  whale  must  act  to  protect  the  animal  from  discomfort  through  changes  of 
water  temperatures  of  moderate  degree,  but  where  this  deposit  is  very  thin  as  inside  the  mouth, 
the  cooler  temperature  of  the  water  must  tend  somewhat  to  lower  that  of  the  body.  Yet 
Fin! >acks  are  common  during  summer  in  the  Arctic  seas  where  the  waters  are  much  colder  than 
off  our  Massachusetts  coast  at  the  same  season,  which  shows  that  they  can  accommodate 
themselves  to  a  moderate  range  of  temperature. 

That  it  is  the  presence  or  absence  of  food  which  governs  the  appearance  of  these  whales, 
and  notably  the  season  of  abundance  of  herring  in  our  waters,  will  I  think,  be  apparent  from 
further  analysis  of  these  records. 

The  habits  of  the  herring  have  been  briefly  mentioned  under  the  heading  of  Food.  As 
there  stated,  they  seem  to  seek  deep  water  during  the  winter,  although  occasional  catches  are 
made  at  that  season;  but  in  early  spring  they  approach  the  shores,  so  that  in  Passamaquoddy 
Bay,  where  their  appearance  has  been  carefully  studied,  the  fish  weirs  are  tended  regularly 
from  the  first  of  April  to  the  end  of  the  year,  the  times  when  whales  are  most  often  observed. 
The  greatest  abundance  of  herring  is  in  July  and  August  which  closely  corresponds  with  the 
tii IK-  when  the  whales  are  most  numerous.  At  this  time  great  shoals  of  young  herring,  the 
progeny  of  the  previous  autumnal  spawning,  appear  on  the  New  England  coast,  and  remain 
until  the  winter,  at  intervals  coming  in  enormous  quantities.  The  larger  fish  are  spawning 
in  fall  from  about  the  last  of  September  through  October  and  approach  the  shores  for  that 
purpose.  After  October  they  disappear  more  or  less,  though  usually  scattered  schools  may  be 
found  in  favorable  localities  during  December.  Their  appearance  during  the  winter  months 
MM 'ins  to  be  irregular  and  uncertain,  but  occasionally  large  numbers  do  come,  and  with  them 
the  whales.  Thus  of  the  two  January  records  given,  the  first  relates  to  a  1901  report  that, 
"whales  and  herring  have  appeared  off  Provincetown.  The  fishermen  have  caught  many  of 
the  latter."  The  second  is  of  one  killed  near  Eastport,  Maine,  that  had  a  large  herring  entrapped 
in  the  baleen,  showing  that  it  had  been  in  pursuit  of  those  fish.  Of  the  three  February  records, 
two  relate  to  whales  washed  ashore  dead,  while  the  other  is  of  a  school  that  appeared  in  Prov- 
i  i  MM  'town  Bay,  about  the  first  of  that  month,  1905,  and  were  said  to  be  pursuing  the  large  her- 
ring then  in  those  waters.  Of  the  March  records  where  details  are  given,  the  same  is  true. 
Thus  in  1880,  large  numbers  came  into  Provincetown  Bay  early  in  March,  in  pursuit  of 


222  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

"immense  quantities  of  herring  and  shrimps";  and  in  1899,  several  Finbacks  about  March 
1st  were  seen  in  the  same  waters  "in  pursuit  of  scattered  schools  of  small  herring."  In  late 
April,  1896,  a  "good-sized  school  of  whales"  is  reported  about  Cape  Cod  following  the  herring 
school.  In  1880,  the  school  of  whales  remained  much  of  the  summer  in  the  Gulf  of  Maine 
and  were  also  reported  to  be  feeding  on*  sand  eels  (Ammodytes)  which  appeared  in  June  in 
abundance.  Again,  in  late  December,  1895,  "a  large  school  of  herring  and  whales"  is  reported 
in  the  Gulf  of  Maine,  off  Southern  Head  Station,  Grand  Manan. 

During  the  summer  months  the  Finbacks  are  also  feeding  largely  on  small  crustaceans, 
on  our  coasts,  and  the  herring  likewise  pursue  these.  Their  presence  is  therefore  an  additional 
factor  in  attracting  the  whales.  In  calm  weather  these  crustaceans  appear  in  vast  swarms, 
tinging  the  sea  with  red  at  times.  When  the  surface  of  the  sea  is  much  ruffled  they  seek  the 
quieter  waters  at  moderate  depths,  and  apparently  are  much  less  evident  in  the  winter  months. 
It  is  plain  that  they  must  be  gathered  in  larger  masses  when  they  seek  the  surface  than  when 
they  retire  to  the  depths  since  in  the  former  case  their  further  upward  progress  is  checked  by 
a  common  barrier.  The  whales  probably  find  it  much  easier  to  engulf  them  in  quantity  when 
thus  assembled  near  the  surface,  and  it  seems  unlikely  that  they  could  successfully  pursue 
them  at  any  but  the  most  superficial  depths.  Direct  evidence  is  wanting  that  the  Finbacks 
feed  on  these  shrimps  in  winter  on  our  coasts,  though  it  may  well  be  that  the  latter  appear 
during  favorable  weather. 

To  conclude,  it  seems  probable  that  this  whale  is  largely  regulated  in  its  appearance  on 
our  coast  by  the  tune  when  the  herring  schools  are  present,  particularly  during  the  winter 
months;  while  the  abundance  of  the  small  shrimps  and  copepods  in  summer  together  with  the 
herring  accounts  for  the  greater  abundance  of  the  cetaceans  during  the  summer  and  fall.  The 
herring  in  turn  are  probably  dependent  in  some  degree  upon  the  copepods  and  other  small 
crustaceans  which  abound  during  the  warm  months  in  the  shallower  onshore  waters.  Whether 
they  both  retire  in  inclement  seasons  to  deeper  water  beyond  the  feeding  range  of  the  whales 
is  unproven,  but  seems  probable. 

Finback  Whaling  on  the  New  England  Coast. 

While  our  forefathers  vigorously  pursued  the  Right  Whale  on  the  New  England  coasts 
during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  they  seldom  molested  the  swifter  moving 
Finback  and  Sulphurbottom  Whales.  This  was  in  part  because  these  yielded  only  a  small 
return  of  oil  and  whalebone  in  comparison  with  the  Right  Whale,  but  chiefly  because  they 
were  unable  to  kill  them  with  hand  harpoons  from  an  open  boat  except  by  some  lucky  chance. 
For  so  swift  and  strong  are  these  leviathans  that  unless  at  once  lanced  in  a  vital  part,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  tire  them  out  or  work  the  boat  up  again  within  striking  distance. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  223 

That  intrepid  mariner,  Captain  John  Smith,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  attempt  the 
capture  of  this  species  of  whale  in  New  England  waters.  His  efforts  were  confined  to  the 
Maine  coast  about  Monhcgan  Island.  But  he  met  with  no  success,  as  his  cheerful  narrative 
sets  forth.  "In  the  month  of  April,  1614,"  he  writes,1 '" with  two  ships  from  London,  of  a 
lew  merchants,  I  chanced  to  arrive  in  New-England,  a  part  of  America,  at  the  isle  of  Mona- 
higgan,  in  forty-three  and  a  half  of  northerly  latitude.  Our  plot  was  there  to  take  whales,  and 
make  trials  of  a  mine  of  gold  and  copper.  If  those  failed,  fish  and  furs  was  then  our  refuge, 
to  make  ourselves  savers  howsoever.  We  found  this  whale-fishing  a  costly  conclusion.  We 
saw  many,  and  spent  much  time  in  chasing  them;  but  could  not  kill  any,  they  being  a  kind  of 
jubartes,  and  not  the  whale  that  yields  fins  and  oil,  as  we  expected."  Evidently  the  Right 
Wliales  had  mostly  gone  to  the  north,  and  the  Finbacks  only  were  met  with,  to  the  great 
discomfiture  of  the  resourceful  captain  and  his  men  who  none  the  less,  did  make  themselves 
"savers"  through  trading  for  furs  with  the  Indians. 

The  early  whalers  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Cape  Cod  were  well  acquainted  with  the 
Finback,  but  generally  made  no  attempt  to  capture  it.  Paul  Dudley,  in  his  essay  on  the  New 
England  whales  (1734,  p.  425),  writes  that  it  is  somewhat  longer  than  the  Right  Whale  "but 
not  so  bulky,  much  swifter,  and  very  furious  when  struck,  and  very  difficultly  held;  their  Oil 
is  not  near  so  much  as  that  of  the  Right  Whale,  and  the  Bone  of  little  Profit,  being  short  and 
knobby."  Similarly,  Hector  St.  John  Crevecoeur,  who  visited  Nantucket  at  about  the  period 
of  the  Revolution,  writes  in  his  Letters  from  an  American  Farmer  (1782),  that  the  Finback 
and  Sulphurbottom,  though  familiar  to  the  Nantucket  whalers,  were  never  or  seldom  killed 
by  them,  "as  being  extremely  swift,"  and  "the  grampus,  [Balaenoptera  acuto-roslrataf]  thirty 
feet  long,  never  killed  on  the  same  account."  Nevertheless  the  sight  of  such  great  whales 
close  at  hand  must  often  have  tempted  the  hardy  whalemen  to  make  hazard  with  harpoon  or 
lance  or  even  with  the  musket,  if  perchance  they  might  capture  these  swifter  species.  So,  in 
the  Boston  News  Letter,  of  September  3d,  1722,  is  advertised  a  court  of  admiralty  to  be  held 
at  Boston  on  the  last  Wednesday  in  the  month,  to  adjudicate  on  a  'drift-whale'  found  floating 
near  the  Brewsters,  and  towed  ashore  in  August.  It  was  much  wasted  and  decayed,  and  on 
cutting  it  up  a  musket  ball  was  found  in  the  carcass,  that  had  doubtless  been  fired  into  it  and 
had  caused  its  death.  The  advertisement  notifies  the  public  that  "if  any  Persons  can  try 
any  Claim  to  said  Whale  so  as  to  make  out  a  Property,"  they  shall  appear  duly  at  the  said 
court.  From  the  fact  that  the  whale  was  killed  in  August  it  is  probable  that  it  was  a  Balaenop- 
tera. Doubtless  some  of  the  'drift  whales'  mentioned  in  the  earlier  records  were  Finbacks, 

'Smith,  Capt.  John.  A  Description  of  New  England,  London,  1616;  reprint  in  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1837,  ser.  3, 
vol.  6,  p.  103. 

2  J.  Hector  St.  John  Crevecoeur.  Letters  from  an  American  Farmer,  London,  1782.  Reprint,  New  York,  1901,  see 
p.  175. 


224  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

that  had  escaped,  mortally  wounded,  to  die  and  later  wash  ashore.  Thus  Weeden  '  notes 
that  "drift  whales  appear  in  the  Boston  newspapers, —  a  finback  at  Nantasket  in  1719  [Boston 
Gazette,  Feb.  28th]  and  again  in  1720  [Boston  News  Letter,  Feb.  15th];  at  Marblehead  in 
1723  [Boston  News  Letter,  Aug.  22d];  and  a  flotsam  'between  the  Capes'  with  a  harpoon  'in 
her'  in  1725  [Boston  News  Letter,  July  15th].  Always  in  the  feminine,  these  valuable  strays 
are  brought  into  the  Admiralty  Court  with  every  formality  of  advertisement  to  secure  justice 
to  possible  claimants." 

Since  the  days  of  Captain  John  Smith,  1614,  no  systematic  attempt  to  capture  Fin  Whales 
on  the  coast  of  New  England  appears  to  have  been  made  until  about  1810,  when  according  to 
R.  E.  Earll,2  a  shore-fishery  was  begun  and  successfully  prosecuted  for  a  number  of  years, 
from  Prospect  Harbor,  in  Frenchman's  Bay,  Maine.  This  industry  was  undertaken  by  Stephen 
Clark  and  L.  Hiller,  of  Rochester,  Mass.,  who  "came  to  the  region,  and  built  try-works  on 
the  shore,  having  their  lookout  station  on  the  top  of  an  adjoining  hill.  The  whales  usually 
followed  the  menhaden  to  the  shore,  arriving  about  the  1st  of  June,  and  remaining  till  Septem- 
ber ....  Ten  years  later  they  began  using  small  vessels  in  the  fishery,  and  by  this  means  were 
enabled  to  go  farther  from  land.  The  fishery  was  at  its  height  between  1835  and  1840  when 
an  average  of  six  or  seven  whales  were  taken  yearly ....  The  business  was  discontinued  about 
1860,  since  which  date  but  one  or  two  whales  have  been  taken."  It  is  probable  that  Hump- 
back Whales  constituted  the  chief  part  of  the  catch,  if  indeed  any  others  were  taken  at  all. 
Clark  3  further  informs  us  that  "shore-whaling  in  the  vicinity  of  Tremont,  [Maine]  began  about 
1840.  Mr.  Benjamin  Beaver  and  a  small  crew  of  men  caught  three  or  more  whales  annually 
for  about  twenty  years,  but  gave  up  the  business  in  1860.  No  more  whales  were  taken  from 
this  time  till  the  spring  of  1880,  when  one  was  taken  and  brought  into  Bass  Harbor,  and  yielded 
1,200  gallons  of  oil  but  no  bone  of  value. 

"Capt.  J.  Bickford,  a  native  of  Winter  Harbor,  is  reported  by  Mr.  C.  P.  Guptil  to  have 
cruised  off  the  coast  in  1845  in  schooner  Huzza,  and  to  have  captured  eight  whales,  one  of 
which  was  a  finback,  the  rest  humpback  whales.  This  schooner  made  only  one  season's  work, 
but  in  1870  Captain  Bickford  again  tried  his  luck  in  a  vessel  from  Prospect  Harbor  and  cap- 
tured one  finback  whale."  Of  the  method  of  whaling  as  employed  by  these  men,  we  have  no 
record,  but  doubtless  they  attacked  the  whales  from  their  whaleboats,  and  after  making  fast 
with  the  harpoon  endeavored  at  once  to  reach  a  vital  spot  with  the  lance.  If  this  were  not 
accomplished  the  whale  stood  a  good  chance  of  escape.  Such  an  adventure  is  illustrated  by 
an  anecdote  reported  in  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  for  December  14,  1846  (vol.  26,  no.  142).  "On 

1  Weeden,  W.  B.     Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England,  1890,  vol.  1,  p.  439. 

2  Earll,  R.  E.     The  Coast  of  Maine  and  its  Fisheries.     In  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  the  U.  S.,  1887, 
sect.  2,  p.  30. 

3  Clark,  A.  Howard.     The  Whale  Fishery.     In  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  the  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  5, 
vol.  2,  p.  40. 


COMMON  F1M5ACK  WHALE.  225 

Monday  morning  two  large  Finbacks  were  seen  playing  side  by  side  in  Provincetown  harbor, 
whereupon  Capt.  Cook  of  the  bark  Fairy,  and  Capt.  Soper,  late  of  the  brig  St.  Thomas,  manned 
two  boats  and  pounced  upon  the  leviathans.  .  . .  Capt.  Cook  gave  his  customer  a  harpoon 
and  a  lance  as  quick  as  he  could  dart,  and  turned  him  up  in  about  fifteen  minutes.  Capt.  Soper 
also  fastened  to  the  other,  but  so  far  aft  as  not  to  affect  the  vitals,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
could  not  get  alongside  to  lance  him.  The  whale  ran  his  boat  to  Truro,  and  after  cutting  down 
the  chocks  of  the  boat  and  making  her  leak,  the  line  was  cut  and  the  whale  went  away  with  the 
harpoon  and  about  50  fathoms  of  line." 

Such,  therefore,  was  the  uncertain  and  desultory  manner  in  which  the  capture  of  the 
Finback  Whale  was  attempted  on  our  coast  previous  to  1850.  At  about  this  time,  however, 
can ic  the  introduction  of  the  whaling  gun  and  the  deadly  bomb-lance,  whose  effectiveness  caused 
a  short-lived  revival  of  this  industry  here,  with  the  Finback  and  Humpback  as  the  special 
objects  of  pursuit.  About  1847,  C.  C.  Brand,  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  invented  a  harpoon 
gun  weighing  from  eighteen  to  twenty-three  pounds,  to  be  fired  from  the  shoulder.  The  Nan- 
tucket  Inquirer,  in  that  year  mentions  this  weapon  as  a  great  innovation:  "We  saw  yesterday 
at  the  store  of  Captain  E.  W.  Gardner  a  very  curious  contrivance  for  killing  whales.  It  is  a 
short  gun  weighing  some  twenty-five  pounds  —  the  stock  being  of  solid  brass  —  from  which  a 
harpoon  is  to  be  fired  into  the  animal.  The  handle  of  the  harpoon  goes  into  the  gun  about  a 
foot,  and  a  line  is  fastened  to  it,  of  course  outside  the  gun,  by  which  the  whale  is  to  be  held. 
There  is  also  a  bomb  lance  for  the  purpose  of  killing  the  animal.  The  instrument  is  loaded 
with  powder,  and  a  slow  match  is  led  from  the  magazine  to  the  end  which  goes  into  the  gun. 
When  the  lance  is  fired  into  the  whale  the  slow  match  ignites;  and  in  about  half  a  minute  the 
fire  reaches  the  powder  which  is  in  the  head  of  the  instrument,  which  instantly  explodes,  killing 
the  animal  outright.  At  least,  that  is  what  the  article  is  intended  to  do.  The  whole  apparatus 
is  certainly  very  ingenious;  whether  or  not  it  is  really  an  improvement  on  the  present  mode 
of  killing  whales  is  more  than  we  are  able  to  say.  That  is  a  question  that  must  be  settled  by 
the  whalemen  themselves." 

At  about  this  time  also,  one  Robert  Allen,  likewise  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  invented  a 
bomb-lance  to  be  fired  from  a  shoulder  gun.  It  was  a  long  metal  tube  filled  with  powder, 
\\hidi  was  exploded  by  means  of  a  time  fuse.  This  proved  ineffective  as  well  as  dan- 
gerous, because  it  lacked  feathering  of  any  sort  to  make  it  travel  end  on.  This  defect,  how- 
ever, was  overcome  by  Brand,  who  in  1852,  devised  feathers  of  rubber,  which  were  attached 
at  the  proximal  end  and  folded  up  when  the  lance  was  thrust  into  the  gun.1  This  bomb-lance 
\\  as  simply  shot  into  the  whale,  and  no  line  was  attached,  so  that  if  not  immediately  fatal 
the  whale  made  off,  and  might  or  might  not  be  recovered.  In  case  of  the  Finback  Whale, 

1  Spears,  J.  R.     The  Story  of  the  New  England  Whalers,  New  York,  1908,  p.  220. 


226  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

which  usually  sinks  at  once  on  being  killed,  the  carcass  might  not  appear  for  two  or  three 
days  until  buoyed  to  the  surface  by  the  accumulated  gases  of  decomposition.  This  style  of 
bomb-lance  met  with  great  favor  among  the  Cape  Cod  whalers  and  later  was  much  used  in 
shore  whaling. 

In  early  July,  1854,  the  schooner  William  P.  Dolliver  sailed  from  Nantucket  for  a  short 
whaling  cruise  on  the  Shoals.  When  a  little  distance  outside  Nantucket  bar,  the  whalers 
saw  a  large  Finback  so  close  at  hand  that  the  bomb-lance  was  shot  into  it  from  the  schooner's 
deck,  killing  the  animal  at  once.  It  sank  in  seven  fathoms  of  water,  but  was  raised  with 
grapplings  procured  from  the  shore,  and  later  towed  with  the  schooner  back  to  the  harbor  by 
the  steamer  Massachusetts.  It  was  thought  that  the  blubber  would  yield  sixty  or  seventy 
barrels  of  oil,  worth  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  thousand  dollars.1  This  would  indicate  a  large 
whale,  or  a  large  estimate.  The  incident  is  further  of  interest  as  indicating  that  at  this 
time  the  pursuit  of  whales,  probably  Humpbacks  and  Finbacks,  was  undertaken  in  a  small 
way  on  the  Shoals,  and  was  probably  made  much  more  profitable  through  the  introduction  of 
the  whaling  gun  with  its  explosive  lance. 

The  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  November  21st,  1855  (vol.  37,  no.  137)  notes  that  several 
Finbacks  had  of  late  been  seen  in  Provincetown  Harbor,  and  that  on  the  17th  of  that  month 
a  single  one  had  appeared,  and  immediately  became  an  object  of  pursuit  by  some  fifteen  boats, 
hastily  manned.  "About  thirty  minutes  after  he  was  first  seen,  he  was  struck  by  a  harpoon 
from  one  of  the  boats,  when  he  immediately  commenced  running,  dragging  the  boat  and  nearly 
filling  it  with  water,  but  in  some  manner  he  cleared  himself."  Evidently,  from  this  account, 
the  use  of  the  bomb-lance  had  not  yet  become  universal. 

Two  years  later,  we  learn  from  the  same  source2  that  about  the  middle  of  April,  1857, 
"there  was  fine  sport  in  Provincetown  on  Monday  last  with  boats  pursuing  Finback  Whales. 
Two  of  them  were  harpooned,  but  the  rapid  movement  of  this  species  of  whale,  does  not  suffer 
them  to  be  taken  in  this  way.  They  are  now  taken  with  a  bomb-lance,  or  a  lance  which  is 
fitted  with  a  charge  of  powder,  to  explode  after  it  enters  the  whale."  A  similar  incident  is 
related  in  December,  1872,  when  a  Finback  appeared  in  Provincetown  Harbor,  and  was  har- 
pooned by  Captain  Isaac  Fisher.  Although  it  received  three  lance  thrusts,  it  finally  parted 
the  line  and  escaped.3  Again  in  late  October,  1868,  a  boat's  crew  put  off  from  Nantucket  in 
pursuit  of  four  Finbacks,  seen  in  the  bay,  but  after  following  them  for  some  miles  to  the  west- 
ward, was  obliged  to  relinquish  the  chase.4  In  the  latter  half  of  October,  1874,  "large  schools 
of  whales,"  probably  Finbacks  for  the  most  part,  were  seen  in  Vineyard  Sound,  and  from 

1  Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  34,  no.  80,  July  7,  1854. 

2  Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  30,  no.  41,  Apl.  20,  1857. 

3  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  53,  no.  24,  Dec.  14,  1872. 

4  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  49,  no.  18,  Oct.  31,  1808. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  227 

Noman's  Land,  Gay  Head,  and  Cuttyhunk.  "Several  first-class  whalemen  took  a  whaleboat, 
with  tow  lines,  harpoons,  lances,  bomb  guns,"  and  went  in  pursuit.  Off  Canapitset,  a  whale, 
said  to  have  been  a  Sulphurbottom,  was  shot  with  a  bomb-lance,  but  immediately  sank.  A 
Finback  was  shot  near  Cuttyhunk,  but  also  sank.  It  was  said  that  four  in  all  were  shot  with 
bomb-lances,  but  none  was  recovered  (Forest  and  Stream,  vol.  3,  p.  188,  Oct.  29,  1874). 
But  the  Nantucketers  were  now  passing  to  other  pursuits,  and  when  in  1876,  a  Finback  was 
reported  near  their  shore,  the  Inquirer '  bemoaned  the  fact  that  there  was  "not  a  whale  boat 
and  gear  with  which  to  pursue." 

On  the  North  Shore,  some  fishermen  in  late  October,  1870,  captured  a  Finback  about 
ten  miles  off  Gloucester,  and  towed  it  to  Boston  for  exhibition.  The  oil  which  it  finally  yielded 
was  said  to  have  been  but  six  barrels.2 

The  year  1880  marks  the  revival  of  shore  whaling  in  Massachusetts  waters,  and  for  some 
fifteen  years  thereafter  much  profit  was  had  from  the  capture  of  Finbacks  and  Humpbacks. 
Must  of  the  whaling  was  carried  on  from  Provincetown,  and  the  weapon  used  was  generally 
the  bomb-lance  fired  from  a  shoulder  gun. 

A.  Howard  Clark3  relates  that  "early  in  March,  1880,  there  came  into  Provincetown 
Bay  and  harbor  immense  quantities  of  herring  and  shrimps.  They  were  followed  by  a  great 
number  of  Finback  Whales,  which  were  here  most  of  the  time  in  greater  or  less  numbers  until 
about  the  middle  of  May,  when  they  all  left.  During  the  time  they  were  here  many  of  them 
were  killed  with  bomb  lances.  They  sank  when  killed  and  remained  at  the  bottom  some  two 
or  three  days.  They  then  came  up  to  the  top  of  the  water,  and  as  they  were  liable  to  come 
up  in  the  night  or  during  rugged  weather,  when  the  whalemen  were  not  there  to  take  them, 
many  of  them  drifted  out  to  sea  and  were  lost.  Thirty-eight  were  brought  in  and  landed  at 
Jonathan  Cook's  oil  works  on  Long  Point.  The  blubber  was  taken  off  and  the  oil  extracted 
from  it  in  the  above-named  factory.  Two  others  brought  in  were  sold  to  parties  who  took 
one  of  them  to  Boston  and  the  other  to  New  York,  where  they  were  exhibited,  making  forty 
whales  in  all  saved.  Early  in  June  immense  quantities  of  sand  eels  (Ammodytes)  came  in  our 
harbor  [Provincetown]  and  bay  and  remained  here  several  days.  About  the  10th  of  Juno 
there  appeared  plenty  of  whales,  feeding  on  the  sand  eels.  They  were  again  attacked  by  our 
men,  when  a  number  of  them  were  killed  in  a  few  days,  of  which  ten  were  saved  and  landed 
at  the  oil  works.  Probably  as  many  more  that  were  not  killed  outright  received  their  death 
wounds  and  went  out  of  the  bay  and  soon  after  died  and  were  lost.  The  forty-eight  whales 
delivered  at  the  oil  works  yielded  950  barrels  of  oil,  sold  at  an  average  price  of  40  cents  per 
gallon." 

• 

1  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  57,  no.  17,  Oct.  21,  1876. 

1  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  51,  no.  20,  Nov.  12,  1870. 

J  Clark,  A.  Howard:  in  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  2,  p.  230. 


228  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

The  proceeds  of  these  48  whales  were: 

29,925  gallons  of  oil  at  40  cents  #11,970.00 

8,750  Ibs.  whalebone  from  35  whales  at  15  cents  1,312.50 

one  whale  sold  for  exhibit  at  Boston  350.00 

one  whale  sold  for  exhibit  at  New  York  405.00 


$14,037.50 

A  report !  from  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  under  date  of  May  13,  1880,  refers  again  to 
the  numbers  of  whales  in  the  near  shore  waters  at  this  time.  Four  dead  ones  had  been  towed 
into  the  harbor  that  had  doubtless  been  shot  and  lost  by  the  Provincetown  fishermen.  Three 
were  towed  into  Boston,  one  to  Newburyport,  one  to  Cape  Porpoise,  one  to  Portland,  one  to 
Mt.  Desert;  two  drifted  ashore  at  Scituate,  two  at  Barnstable,  one  at  Brewster,  one  at  Orleans, 
two  at  Wellfleet,  one  on  the  back  of  Cape  Cod,  and  one  was  stripped  of  its  blubber  at  sea  (A. 
Howard  Clark,  1887). 

"When  the  first  whales  were  killed  it  was  supposed  the  whalebone  in  their  mouths  was 
worthless.  It  was  not  saved.  Subsequently  some  was  saved  and  sold  at  15  cents  per  pound. 
The  average  quantity  of  bone  in  each  whale  is  about  250  pounds 

"In  the  spring  of  1881  the  whales  came  into  the  bay  again,  but  not  in  so  large  numbers. 
Fifteen  were  killed  which  furnished  300  barrels  of  oil.  . .  .No  whales  have  come  in  of  late." 

In  a  letter  from  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake,  dated  September  8,  1881,  accompanying  some  bones 
of  a  foetal  Finback  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  he  states  that  fifty-one  whales  were 
killed  that  spring  by  the  Provincetown  whalers.  The  female  from  which  the  foetus  was  taken, 
was  about  sixty-five  feet  long,  very  fat,  and  yielded  thirty-two  barrels  of  oil,  an  unusual  amount. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  average  yield  of  oil  per  whale  from  these  Finbacks  was  in  both  lots, 
almost  exactly  20  barrels. 

The  annals  of  whaling  at  Provincetown  indicate  a  lull  in  the  industry  for  about  four  years 
succeeding  1881.  In  1885,  however,  Finbacks  appeared  in  numbers  on  the  coast,  and  in  this 
and  the  following  year,  many  were  captured.  A  report2  from  Gloucester,  Mass.,  under  date  of 
March  8,  1885,  says  that  the  fishermen  had  "never  seen  whales  so  numerous  on  the  eastern 
shore  as  at  present.  The  steamer  Fannie  Sprague,  of  Booth  Bay,  formerly  used  in  the  porgy 
fishery,  which  has  been  fitted  out  as  a  whaler,  shot  six  whales  last  week.  Two  of  them  were 
safely  towed  to  Booth  Bay,  but  the  other  four,  which  sunk,  are  buoyed."  The  success  of  the 
Fannie  Sprague  and  the  abundance  of  whales  this  year,  encouraged  others  to  venture  in  their 
pursuit.  Accordingly  we  learn  that  "during  the  past  two  months  [March  and  (?)  April,  1885] 
four  steamers  have  been  engaged  in  this  work,  viz.  Fannie  Sprague,  Mabel  Bird,  Hurricane, 

1  Clark,  A.  Howard.     Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1884,  vol.  4,  p.  404. 

2  Martin,  S.  J.     Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1885,  vol.  5,  p.  207. 


COMMON   FINHACK  WHALE.  229 

and  Josephine.  They  cruise  off  the  Maine  and  Massachusetts  shores  as  far  south  as  Cape  Cod. 
A  bomb-lance,  fired  from  a  gun  held  at  the  shoulder,  is  used  for  killing  the  whales.  Up  to  date 
about  40  whales  have  been  captured.  As  the  men  become  expert  in  the  manner  of  capture, 
the  whales  become  shy  and  keep  more  in  deep" water.  After  being  killed  they  usually  sink, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  the  business,  as  at  present  conducted,  will  last  if  the  whales  are  driven  off 
from  near  shore,  it  being  difficult  to  recover  them  in  over  40  fathoms  of  water.  The  whales 
raptured  the  past  few  weeks  average  60  feet  long  and  weigh  about  25  tons  each;  they  yield 
about  20  barrels  of  oil,  2  barrels  of  meat,  5  tons  of  dry  chum,  and  2  tons  of  bone,  about  MOO 
1  icing  realized  from  each  whale,  on  the  average."  l  The  steamer  Fannie  Sprague  was  a  Booth 
Bay  vessel,  but  the  home  port  of  the  three  others  is  not  given. 

Another  report L  states  that  five  small  steamers  in  all  were  engaged  in  the  Finback  shore 
fishery  in  the  Gulf  of  Maine  during  1885.  The  fleet  landed  part  of  the  whales  at  Province- 
town,  Massachusetts,  and  the  remainder  at  the  factories  in  Maine.  Capt.  Joshua  Nickerson 
of  Provincetown  was  thus  engaged  at  this  time  and  on  July  7th,  as  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  tells 
me,  shot  a  Finback  in  Massachusetts  Bay  making  about  the  thirty-eighth  he  had  caught. 
A  few  days  before,  July  3d,  a  male  Finback  had  drifted  ashore  at  the  Mt.  Desert  Light  Station, 
Maine,2  that  had  probably  been  shot  by  one  of  these  whaling  steamers.  Earll  states3  that 
about  seventy-five  whales  were  captured  by  the  combined  efforts  of  these  five  steamers  in  1885. 

In  the  following  year  these  whales  continued  to  be  numerous  offshore,  and  a  report 4  under 
date  of  June,  1886,  states  that  "three  steamers  are  engaged  in  taking  them,  being  quite  suc- 
cessful, although  many  that  are  shot  and  sink  in  deep  water  are  not  recovered."  One  of  these 
three  vessels  was  the  A.  B.  Nickerson,  commanded  by  Captain  "Josh"  Nickerson,  of  Province- 
town,  but  the  names  of  the  two  others  though  not  given  may  be  surmised  as  of  those  previously 
engaged.  In  this  same  year,  according  to  Jennings 5  an  oil  works  was  set  up  near  Race  Point 
Light,  Provincetown,  and  in  1887  a  bone  crusher  was  added  for  reducing  the  skeletons  of  the 
whales  to  lime.  Of  the  whaling  in  1886,  I  have  found  no  definite  record,  but  it  seems  to  have 
been  less  productive  than  in  1885,  and  nothing  further  is  heard  of  the  Maine  steamers.  Cap- 
tain Nickerson,  however,  continued  to  pursue  whales  in  the  home  waters  during  the  next  ten 
years  with  much  success. 

The  following  brief  review  of  Captain  Nickerson's  campaign  is  based  mainly  on  notes 
and  clippings  kindly  furnished  me  by  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake,  as  well  as  on  reports  in  the  Nantucket 
Inquirer  and  Journal.  From  the  last-named  source6  it  appears  that  in  early  June,  1888,  the 

1  Wilcox,  W.  A.     Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1885,  vol.  5,  p.  169. 
iley,  C.  W.     Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1885,  vol.  5,  p.  337. 
3  Earll,  R.  E.     Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1886,  vol.  6,  p.  312. 
'  Wilcox,  W.  A.     Bull.  U.  S.  Fish  Comm.,  1886,  vol.  6,  p.  201. 
5  Jennings,  H.  A.     I'rovinectown  or,  odds  and  ends  from  the  tip  end,  1890,  p.  136. 
•  Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  10,  no.  36,  June  7,  1888. 


230  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

A.  B.  Nickerson  fell  in  with  a  school  of  about  ten  Finbacks  off  Cape  Cod,  and  succeeded  in 
killing  a  large  one  which  sank  at  once.  In  the  following  year  a  Finback  Whale  that  had  been 
shot  about  the  first  of  May  (1890),  was  found  floating  near  Egg  Rock,  Swampscott,  and  was 
towed  into  Deer  Cove,  Lynn.  These  reports  are  doubtless  but  an  echo  of  the  activity  of  the 
little  steam- whaler,  for  Mr.  Blake,  in  response  to  my  inquiries,  sends  me  a  note  from  Mr.  M.  C. 
Atwood,  of  Provincetown,  in  which  he  says,  "John  Rosenthal  told  me  that  the  highest  number 
of  whales  that  the  steamer  killed  in  any  one  year  was  fifty-two  and  other  people  killed  about 
the  same  number  during  the  same  year,  which  is  quite  a  slaughter.  That  was  in  1887,  he  thinks. 
I  remember  the  year  well.  At  one  time  Job  Cook  had  at  his  place  on  Long  Point,  fourteen 
whales.  But  they  are  gone  now  [1903]  and  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  see  one." 

The  Nantucket  Journal  for  October  4,  1894,  makes  mention  of  a  school  of  whales  about 
the  Cape  at  that  time,  at  least  one  of  which  was  killed.  In  the  previous  month,  Septem- 
ber 12,  1894,  Captain  "Ed.  Walter"  Smith  of  Provincetown,  had  killed  a  large  Finback  off  the 
"Gully."  1  But  the  following  year  seems  to  have  yielded  a  greater  harvest.  A  clipping  from 
the  Provincetown  Beacon  in  early  May,  1895,  states  that  on  April  12th,  of  that  year,  the  first 
Finback  of  the  season  was  shot  by  Captain  E.  W.  Smith  and  eighteen  days  later  a  "young 
whale"  was  killed  by  the  Truro  trapmen.  Captain  Fuller  in  the  Vigilant,  next  killed  one 
which  was  sold  to  Boston  parties  for  embalming  and  exhibition.  Captain  Nickerson  in  the 
Angelina  B.  Nickerson  killed  five  about  the  first  week  of  May.  The  same  week  Captain 
Joshua  Nickerson  shot  a  "very  large  whale",  Captain  Fuller  and  Captain  "Ves"  Ellis  each 
shot  one  —  all  Finbacks.  Eleven  whales  in  all  was  thus  the  total  catch  up  to  about  the 
10th  of  May  of  1895.  The  Nantucket  Journal 2  also  refers  to  the  large  Finback  caught  by 
Captain  Nickerson,  and  adds  that  between  April  12th  and  May  16th,  he  had  captured  and 
towed  to  his  oilworks  at  Herring  Cove,  Provincetown,  no  less  than  eight  whales. 

The  season  of  1896  was  likewise  a  prosperous  one  for  the  local  whalers.  A  clipping  dated 
Provincetown,  April  23,  1896,  reads:  "Steamer  A.  B.  Nickerson,  Captain  Nickerson,  has 
killed  four  whales,  two  of  which  were  Humpbacks,  and  has  landed  them  at  the  oilworks  in 
Herring  Cove ....  A  good-sized  school  of  whales  is  reported  around  the  Cape,  following  up 
the  herring  school,  and  the  fleet  of  small  steamers  here  is  on  the  warpath  after  them."  Other 
whales  were  undoubtedly  taken  during  the  remainder  of  the  summer,  but  how  many  does  not 
appear.  According  to  the  Boston  Journal  for  October  5,  1896,  a  Finback,  sixty-five  feet, 
in  length,  drifted  ashore  at  Nantasket  Beach,  and  had  probably  been  shot  by  the  whalers 
shortly  before. 

The  year  1896  practically  closes  the  Finback  whaling  in  our  waters,  and  the  A.  B.  Nick- 
erson has  gone  in  search  of  other  quarry.  The  tryworks  have  fallen  into  disuse  and  though 

1  Boston  Daily  Globe,  Apl.  3,  1895. 

2  Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  17,  no.  33,  May  16,  1895. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  231 

an  occasional  whale  still  appears  from  time  to  time  in  the  harbor  at  Provincetown,  there  is  rarely 
any  special  attempt  made  to  capture  the  visitor.  For  the  oil  commands  but  a  small  price 
and  the  whale  guns  and  bomb-lances  are  laid  on  the  shelf.  The  occasional  dead  whale  that 
now  drifts  ashore  is  looked  upon  rather  as  a  common  nuisance  than  as  a  prize,  and  the  local 
Boards  of  Health  rather  than  the  whalemen  see  to  its  disposal. 

Commercial  Value. 

From  the  facts  given  in  the  preceding  pages  it  appears  that  the  average  production  of 
forty-six  Finbacks  killed  in  our  waters  in  1885  was  about  650.5  gallons  (20+  barrels)  of  oil 
apiece  valued  at  that  time  at  $260.20.  Thirty-five  whales  produced  250  pounds  of  whalebone 
apiece  on  an  average,  which  at  15  cents  a  pound,  made  the  yield  per  whale  worth  $37.50.  The 
total  value  of  each  whale  was  therefore  $297.70,  or  nearly  three  hundred  dollars. 

A  yield  of  twenty  barrels  of  oil  per  whale  is  perhaps  a  high  average.  Atwood  mentions 
fourteen  and  twenty  barrels  respectively  from  two  Finbacks.  From  one  large  and  very  fat 
row  whale,  65  feet  long,  thirty-two  barrels  of  oil  were  made,  an  unusual  amount. 

The  oil  from  whales  of  this  genus  and  of  the  Humpback  differs  from  that  of  the  Sperm 
Whale  in  its  high  percentage  of  glycerine,  6  to  10  percent  on  an  average,  or  even  as  much  as 
It  percent.  According  to  the  1915  report  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  demand 
for  glycerine  for  the  manufacture  of  explosives  has  given  great  impetus  to  this  branch  of  the 
whaling  industry,  particularly  in  Pacific  waters.  Most  of  the  oil  goes  to  the  English  market, 
and  the  price  has  risen  from  35  cents  a  gallon  in  1913  to  55  cents  in  1915. 

The  baleen  of  the  Finback  is,  next  to  that  of  the  Pollack  Whale,  the  best  in  quality  except- 
ing, of  course,  that  produced  by  the  Arctic  Bowhead  and  the  Right  Whale.  Its  manufacture 
into  strips  of  various  sizes  and  qualities  is  described  by  Stevenson  (1907). 

A  much  greater  return  than  a  bare  $300  per  whale  could  be  had  with  proper  facilities  for 
using  the  entire  carcass.  The  shore-whaling  industry  as  developed  on  the  Norwegian  and 
Newfoundland  coasts  of  late  years  has  succeeded  in  utilizing  every  part  of  the  huge  animal,  and 
at  the  Newfoundland  stations  I  was  told  in  1903  that  a  Finback  Whale  of  average  size  was 
valued  at  about  a  thousand  dollars.  The  fishery  there  began  actively  in  1897,  and  several 
stations  quickly  sprang  up.  These  stations  consist  of  a  slip  on  which  the  whale  is  drawn  from 
the  water  by  powerful  steam  winches,  a  house  for  the  tryworks,  another  for  the  machinery  used 
in  converting  the  flesh  into  fertilizer,  a  bone  crusher,  and  houses  for  the  workmen.  The  blubber 
is  cut  off  in  strips  by  men  using  long  blades  set  in  the  ends  of  poles.  These  with  the  tongue 
are  cut  in  small  pieces,  thrown  into  a  hopper  where  they  are  further  minced,  and  conveyed  by 
an  endless  chain  of  buckets  to  the  vat  where  the  oil  is  tried  out  and  dipped  off  into  barrels. 
From  part  of  the  residue  a  glue  is  made.  The  carcass,  after  being  stripped  of  its  layer  of  blubber, 


232  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

is  reduced  to  large  chunks,  which  are  tried  out  in  open  wooden  vats  in  which  are  coils  of  steam 
piping  to  supply  heat.  The  oil  dipped  off  from  these  vats  is  of  a  poorer  grade  and  needs  first  to 
be  bleached  by  chemicals  before  it  is  ready  for  market.  The  boiling  process  separates  the 
flesh  from  the  bones,  and  the  latter  are  crushed  to  be  used  as  lime  fertilizer.  The  meat  frag- 
ments are  passed  through  a  long  revolving  drum  in  which  they  are  greatly  comminuted  by 
swinging  knives  inside  the  drum,  while  at  the  same  time  the  bits  are  dried  by  heat.  The  result 
is  a  coarse  powdery  material  which,  when  moistened,  makes  excellent  fertilizer.  It  is  also 
used  in  Scandinavia  for  feeding  cattle.  The  plates  of  whalebone  are  separated  from  their 
attachment  to  the  fibrous  mass  of  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  are  then  washed  and  dried  in  the 
sun,  sorted  and  packed  into  bales  for  transport.  Thus  the  greater  part  of  the  whale  is  utilized,, 
and  the  actual  waste  very  small.  The  Newfoundland  companies  have,  through  Dr.  L.  Riss- 
muller,  developed  sundry  chemical  processes  for  reducing  and  saving  various  parts.  The 
success  of  one  or  two  companies  in  the  early  years  of  this  fishery  soon  led  to  the  erection  of 
numerous  stations  on  the  Newfoundland  shores,  and  the  inevitable  depletion  of  the  whales 
resulted  disastrously  for  many  of  those  whose  capital  was  involved.  In  1914  the  report  of 
the  Newfoundland  whaling  industry  showed  a  marked  decline.  Of  the  six  ships  engaged  in 
the  home  waters  that  year  only  one  paid  dividends.  It  secured  65  whales  out  of  a  total  of  168. 
Contrast  this  with  the  yearly  average  of  1500  whales  for  the  first  years  succeeding  1897  when 
the  industry  was  started! 

The  varying  abundance  of  the  whales  from  season  to  season,  and  the  chances  of  the  sea 
are  factors  to  be  reckoned  with  in  such  enterprises,  yet  it  would  seem  that  if  a  factory  were 
erected  on  Cape  Cod  or  Nantucket,  for  the  rendering  of  whales  into  oil,  lime,  and  fertilizer 
there  might  be  a  fair  chance  of  a  reasonable  income.  It  has  even  been  proposed,  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  to  can  the  meat  for  ordinary  consumption.  Those  who  had  tried  whale  meat  at  New- 
foundland, pronounced  it  very  good,  somewhat  coarser  than  beef,  but  otherwise  hardly  inferior. 
In  Japan  it  is  a  staple  article  of  diet.  It  should  be  added,  that  in  the  modern  method  of  whaling, 
small  steamers  are  used,  and  that  instead  of  bomb-lances  being  shot  into  the  whale  with  the 
hope  that  the  dead  animal  might  subsequently  be  found,  a  large  harpoon,  weighing  over  one 
hundred  pounds,  and  provided  with  an  explosive  cap  is  used.  This  harpoon  carries  a  strong 
four-inch  manila  cable  so  that  it  is  seldom  a  whale  is  lost,  and  if  its  first  efforts  at  flight  do  not 
exhaust  it,  this  line  can  be  warped  in  until  the  whale  is  near  enough  for  a  second  shot,  or  it  may 
be  lanced  from  an  open  boat  rowed  alongside. 

On  the  Labrador  coast  at  the  present  day  the  long  jaw  bones  of  Fin  Whales  are  used  to  shoe 
the  wooden  runners  of  the  dog-sledges  for  winter  travel.  They  are  allowed  to  soak  in  the 
seawater  for  a  considerable  time,  which  is  said  to  harden  the  texture  of  the  bone.  Strips  are 
then  sawed  from  them  half  an  inch  thick  and  the  width  of  the  runner,  to  which  they  are  attached 
by  pegs  of  wood.  The  advantage  of  this  sort  of  runner  is  that  the  snow  does  not  stick  to  it. 


COMMON  FINBACK  WHALE.  233 

r 

Enemies  and  Parasites. 

In  our  waters,  the  larger  whales  seem  to  have  little  to  fear  from  other  predatory  creatures. 
Xo  doubt  the  fierce  Orca  or  Killer  Whale  may  occasionally  attack  them  but  I  have  no  definite 
evidence  on  this  matter,  and  the  species  is  rare  with  us. 

Ordinarily  the  Finback  Whale  does  not  harbor  any  barnacles  on  the  body  surfaces,  though 
the  whalemen  tell  me  that  rarely  a  small  species  resembling  a  common  ship's  barnacle  is  found 
on  captured  specimens. 

On  the  plates  of  whalebone  Lillie  (1910,  p.  786)  has  lately  recorded  for  the  first  time  in 
this  species,  the  presence  of  multitudes  of  the  minute  crustacean  Balaenophilus  unisetus  Auri- 
villius,  a  copepod  modified  for  this  semiparasitic  existence.  These  minute  animals  reach 
an  adult  size  of  less  than  four  millimeters  and  in  both  young  and  mature  stages  are  found  cling- 
ing in  multitudes  to  the  baleen  plates.  Lillie's  observations  were  made  on  the  Irish  coast, 
but  the  same  parasite  is  to  be  looked  for  on  this  side  of  the  water. 

Another  copepod,  Penella  balaenopterae,  likewise  occurs  as  a  parasite  of  this  whale,  and 
is  most  remarkably  modified  for  life  with  its  huge  host.  In  the  earlier  stages,  both  sexes  are 
of  more  or  less  normal  appearance,  with  enlarged  thorax,  narrower  abdomen,  and  swimming 
appendages.  The  adult  female,  however,  burrows  with  her  head  deeply  into  the  exterior  of 
the  whale,  and  her  entire  body  becomes  transformed  into  an  elongated  sac,  the  head  develops 
horn-like  anchors  for  holding,  and  the  remainder  of  the  body  with  two  long  egg  sacs  and  gills 
trails  behind  in  the  water,  some  eight  inches  in  length.  Turner  (1905)  mentions  finding  numer- 
ous specimens  in  the  back  of  one  of  these  whales. 

Of  internal  parasites  the  best  known  are  certain  so-called  thorn-headed  worms  of  the  genus 
Echinorhynchus,  which  attach  themselves  to  the  lining  of  the  intestine.  The  sexes  are  separate, 
and  the  larvae  pass  from  the  body  of  the  female  worm  into  the  intestinal  cavity  of  the  whale, 
whence  they  are  discharged  with  the  faeces.  In  many  other  species  these  young  pass  the  next 
stage  of  life  as  parasites  in  Crustacea,  so  it  is  likely  that  in  some  one  or  other  of  the  minute  cope- 
pods  or  schizopods  on  which  these  whales  feed,  this  second  stage  will  be  found.  The  crustacean 
host  is  swallowed  in  its  turn  by  the  whale,  and  so  allows  the  parasite  to  pass  its  adult  stage 
in  the  whale's  intestine.  Borgstrom  (1892)  was  the  first  to  report  Echinorhynchus  turbinella 
from  the  Common  Finback,  and  it  occurs  also  in  the  Pollack  Whale.  A  second  species,  E. 
brevicollis,  is  lately  reported  from  the  intestine  of  the  Finback  (Hamilton,  1916,  p.  132). 

Haldane  records  finding  two  or  three  bushels  of  nematode  worms  in  the  stomach  of  a 
Finback,  which  were  identified  by  Von  Listow  as  Ascaris  simplex,  a  species  that  also  occurs 
in  the  Harbor  Porpoise.  In  the  intestines  of  Fin  Whales  killed  from  the  Belmullet  Whaling 
Station  on  the  Irish  coast,  Hamilton  (1915,  1916)  has  lately  reported  finding  numbers  of  the 
trematode,  Monostomum  plicaium. 


234  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Balaenoptera  borealis  LESSON. 

RUDOLPHI'S  RORQUAL;    POLLACK  WHALE. 

PLATE  13,  FIG.  1. 

SYNONYMY. 

1822.     Balaena  rostmta  Rudolphi,  Abhandl.  K.  Akad.  Wiss.  Berlin,  for  1820-21,  p.  27-40,  pi.  1-5  (not  of 
Miiller,  1776;  not  of  Fabricius,  1780). 

1828.  Balaenoptera  borealis  Lesson,  Hist.  Nat.  Gen.  et  Partic.  des  Mamm.  et  des  Oiseaux,  Cetaces,  p.  342, 

pi.  12. 

1829.  Balaena  borealis  Fischer,  Synopsis  Mammalium,  p.  524  (in  part). 

1846.  Balaenoptera  laticeps  Gray,  Zool.  Voyage  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  20. 

1847.  Balaena  physalus  Nilsson,  Skandinavisk  Fauna,  pt.  1,  p.  636  (in  part). 
1864.  Sibbaldus  laticeps  Gray,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1864,  p.  223. 
1864.  Sibbaldius  laticeps  Flower,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1864,  p.  393. 
1864.  Phy -solus  laticeps  Flower,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1864,  p.  395. 

1868.     Rudolphius  laticeps  Gray,  Synopsis  of  Species  of  Whales  and  Dolphins  British  Museum,  p.  3;  Suppl. 
Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Museum,  1871,  p.  54. 

t 

History  and  Nomenclature. 

The  first  accurate  account  of  this  little-known  whale  was  published  in  1822  by  Rudolphi 
who,  however,  supposed  it  to  be  the  same  species  as  Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata.  His  illustrated 
paper  gives  details  of  the  structure,  under  the  name  Balaena  rostrata,  of  an  individual  taken  in 
1819  in  the  North  Sea,  and  preserved  in  the  Berlin  Museum.  Six  years  later,  Lesson  (1828) 
in  his  supplement  to  Buffon's  works  on  natural  history  bestowed  on  it  the  name  Balaenoptera 
borealis  which  it  still  retains,  basing  his  account  primarily  on  Cuvier's  description  (copied  from 
Rudolphi)  of  the  North  Sea  skull  and  partly  on  some  notes  supplied  him  by  a  French  officer 
of  the  Health  Department,  concerning  a  specimen  stranded  on  the  Isle  of  Oleron,  west  coast 
of  France.  In  1846,  J.  E.  Gray  in  his  classic  review  of  the  whales  (in  the  Zoology  of  the  Voyage 
of  the  Erebus  and  Terror)  recognized  that  Rudolphi's  monograph  was  concerned  with  another 
species  than  that  to  which  the  name  rostrata  rightly  applied,  and  he  therefore  renamed  it  Ba- 
laenoptera laticeps,  ignoring  Lesson's  previous  application  of  the  name  borealis.  In  1864,  he 
placed  the  species  in  his  genus  Sibbaldus  which  he  erected  to  include  this  whale  and  the  Sul- 
phurbottom  (to  which  he  as  well  as  several  other  naturalists  wrongly  applied  the  specific  name 
borealis).  Flower  uses  this  name  emended  to  Sibbaldius  laticeps,  but  in  the  same  paper  (per- 
haps through  inadvertence)  uses  also  Physalus  laticeps,  and  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
laticeps  is  somewhat  of  a  misnomer.  Four  years  later,  in  1868,  Gray  proposed  for  it  a  separate 


RUDOLPHFS  RORQUAL.  235 

genus,  using  the  name  Rudolphius  which  in  a  subgeneric  sense  he  had  given  it  in  1866.  Sub- 
sequent investigation  fails  to  uphold  Gray's  views  on  the  distinction  of  cetacean  genera,  and 
it  is  now  universally  accepted  as  a  species  of  the  genus  Balaenoptera. 

Since  the  description  by  Rudolphi  of  a  skeleton  in  the  Berlin  Museum  formed  the  basis  of 
Lesson's  name  borealis,  (though  he  refers  only  to  Cuvier's  figure  and  description  in  the  Ossemens 
Fossiles,  taken  from  Rudolphi's  account),  this  specimen  becomes  the  type.  It  was  found 
cast  ashore  on  the  German  coast  of  the  North  Sea  at  GrSmitz  in  the  province  of  Holstein, 
in  1819. 

Vernacular  Names. 

In  recognition  of  his  having  first  made  this  whale  known  to  science,  it  is  called  Rudolphi's 
Whale  or  Rudolphi's  Rorqual,  but  this  is  a  book  name,  as  also  the  name  Lesser  Rorqual  or 
Lesser  Fin  Whale,  in  reference  to  its  smaller  size  in  comparison  with  the  Common  Finback 
which  it  somewhat  resembles.  On  the  Norwegian  coast  it  goes  by  the  name  of  Sejhval  (or 
Seihval)  among  the  fishermen,  that  is,  Pollack  Whale,  or  Coal-fish  Whale  since  it  appears  in 
those  waters  at  about  the  same  time  as  the  Pollack  or  'Coal-fish'  though  it  is  not  known  to 
eat  that  fish.  Though  the  term  Pollack  Whale  is  sometimes  used  as  the  English  equivalent 
of  the  Norwegian  word,  it  has  been  anglicized  into  '  Sei  Whale '  among  whalemen  of  the  New- 
foundland coasts,  and  by  the  Germans  has  become  Seiwal.  The  French  speak  of  it  as  the 
"Rorqual  du  Nord."  The  term  Black  Whale  is  sometimes  applied  to  this  species  but  belongs 
more  properly  to  the  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale. 

Illustrations. 

Excellent  figures  of  the  exterior  of  this  whale  are  given  by  Collett  in  his  monograph  of  1886 
(Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  1886,  plates  25,  26).  Two  of  these  figures 
show  variations  in  the  amount  of  white  on  the  belly,  which  is  more  restricted  than  in  the  Fin- 
back Whale.  More  recently,  Andrews  (1916)  has  published  an  extensive  monograph  summa- 
rizing and  amplifying  our  knowledge  of  this  whale.  His  excellent  photographs,  as  well  as  a 
general  figure  to  scale  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Blake  (Plate  40),  very  thoroughly  illustrate  the  species. 

Description. 

Form. —  The  body  is  less  slender  than  in  the  Common  Finback.  The  pectoral  limbs  are 
said  to  be  relatively  smaller  than  in  the  other  species,  and  the  dorsal  fin  large  and  falcate, 
is  situated  anterior  to  the  commencement  of  the  last  third  of  the  length. 

Plicae. —  Collett  gives  the  number  as  from  30  to  44  with  some  8  to  10  shorter  folds  at  the 
sides,  a  total  of  "38  to  58,"  and  so  considerably  fewer  than  in  the  Common  Finback. 

Color.—  The  dorsal  surfaces  are  described  as  bluish  black  or  occasionally  somewhat  brown; 


236  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

not  so  blue,  however,  as  in  the  Sulphurbottom.  Millais,  with  the  advantage  of  an  artist's 
training,  says  its  color  in  life  is  "dark  sepia  suffused  with  gray."  Laterally  the  color  pales 
and  becomes  a  dark  steel  gray  along  the  sides  of  the  body.  A  sharply  denned  white  area  begins 
at  the  chin  and  extends  along  the  middle  of  the  belly  to  the  genital  region.  On  the  breast  the 
white  area  is  narrowed  and  sometimes  quite  cut  across  by  encroachment  of  the  color  of  the 
sides.  Behind  the  vent  the  body  is  bluish  gray  including  the  whole  underside  of  the  flukes. 
The  pectoral  limbs  are  colored  above  like  the  back,  but  on  their  inferior  surfaces  they  are  a 
trifle  paler,  with  sometimes  large  whitish  spots,  though  "never.  . .  .absolutely  white."  The 
white  of  the  belly  is  often  asymmetrical  in  disposition.  Collett  describes  numerous  oval 
blotches  of  a  whitish  color,  appearing  on  the  dark  parts  of  the  body,  but  Andrews  (19 10)  shows 
that  these  are  marks  due  to  parasites  (see  Japha,  1905). 

A  careful  comparison  is  much  to  be  desired  between  the  coloration  of  this  whale  and  that 
of  the  Finback.  To  judge  from  descriptions  Rudolphi's  Rorqual  has  the  white  of  the  ventral 
surfaces  more  restricted.  Andrews  (1916)  in  his  monograph  just  issued  has  very  fully  de- 
scribed color  variation  in  Pacific  specimens. 

Hair. —  In  a  foetus  of  this  whale,  Collett  found  two  rows  of  seven  hairs  each,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  rostrum.  On  the  lower  jaw  were  seventeen  hairs  on  each  side  in  three  longitudinal 
rows,  consisting  of  three  each  in  the  upper  and  the  lower  rows,  and  eleven  in  the  central  row, 
a  total  of  48  hairs.  In  an  adult  female,  however,  only  two  hairs  were  found  on  each  side  of 
the  upper  jaw  and  on  each  lower  jaw  a  row  of  eleven.  According  to  Braun  (1904)  there  are 
about  fifty  hairs.  Japha  (1911)  has  investigated  the  microscopic  structure  of  these,  and  found 
that  those  on  the  chin  were  noticeably  different  from  the  others.  Their  bulb  is  not  set  so  deeply 
in  the  skin,  and  the  nerve  supply  is  richer,  suggesting  a  tactile  function. 

Baleen. —  The  baleen  or  '  whalebone '  of  this  species  is  highly  characteristic  in  appearance. 
Its  color  is  black,  but  the  fringing  bristles  of  the  inner  edge  are  whitish,  and  of  a  fine  and  fibrous 
texture,  almost  like  wool  in  comparison  with  the  coarser  whitish  bristles  of  the  Common  Fin- 
back. They  form  a  very  densely  matted  mass.  In  occasional  individuals  some  of  the  anterior 
plates  may  be  wholly  or  partly  white,  and  this  condition  may  be  nearly  the  same  on  both  sides. 
The  number  of  plates,  counting  them  from  the  exterior,  is  given  by  Collett  as  from  318  to  339. 
In  texture  the  baleen  is  said  to  be  of  finer  quality  than  in  any  of  the  other  Balaenopterae,  and 
is  hence  more  valuable  commercially.  The  longest  plates  occur  at  about  the  beginning  of 
the  final  third  of  the  series,  and  may  reach  a  length  of  640  mm.  (about  25  inches). 

External  Measurements. —  No  detailed  measurements  of  New  England  or  of  Western 
Atlantic  specimens  are  available.  Collett  says  that  the  largest  one  measured  by  him  in  Fin- 
mark  was  16.3  meters  or  53.5  feet  long,  a  male.  The  largest  female  he  saw  was  but  14.7  meters 
or  48.2  feet.  Specimens  as  small  as  10.1  meters  (33.1  feet)  were  noted,  but  these  may  not  have 
been  adult.  The  largest  recorded  Atlantic  specimen  was  57  feet  long  (Haldane).  It  is  evident 


RUDOLPHI'S  RORQUAL.  237 

then  that  it  is  a  smaller  whale  than  the  Common  Finback,  though  not  so  small  as  the  Little 
Piked  AYluile. 

Skeleton. —  According  to  Flower,  Gray  was  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  skull  was  pro- 
portionally very  broad.  Its  form  is  in  general  like  that  of  the  other  members  of  the  genus. 
The  nasal  bones  are  almost  straight  across  at  their  anterior  ends,  slightly  longer  at  the  middle, 
and  raised  along  the  midline  to  a  low  ridge.  The  coronoid  processes  of  the  lower  jaw  are  short 
and  obtusely  triangular.  The  length  of  the  skull  of  a  30-foot  specimen  was  6  feet  7  inches  (2.00 
mot  era).  The  neck  vertebrae  are  seven  as  usual,  and  in  the  skeleton  at  Leyden  the  five  posterior 
ones  have  the  vertebrarterial  canal  incomplete  where  the  lateral  processes  fail  to  unite  at  their 
tips.  In  the  Brussels  skeleton,  however,  they  are  joined  in  the  first,  second,  and  third  vertebrae. 
The  processes  are  of  about  equal  length  throughout  except  that  in  the  sixth  vertebra  the  lower 
one  is  shorter  than  the  upper.  In  this  skeleton  thirteen  pairs  of  ribs  are  present  but  according  to 
Flower,  a  fourteenth  pair  of  floating  ribs  has  probably  become  lost.  The  first  rib  in  this  speci- 
men had  a  bifid  head,  and  articulated  with  the  seventh  cervical  as  well  as  with  the  first  dorsal. 
All  the  ribs  had  tubercular  articulations,  and  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  had  in  addition  slen- 
der capitular  processes  or  heads  which,  however,  did  not  articulate  with  the  vertebral  bodies. 
The  sternum  was  lozenge-shaped,  8  inches  broad,  and  4  inches  in  its  lengthwise  dimension. 

Andrews  (1916)  summarizes  and  corrects  previous  observations  as  to  the  number  of  bones 
in  the  vertebral  column.  The  normal  formula  he  gives  as  7  cervicals,  14  dorsals,  13  lumbars, 
and  22  or  23  caudals,  total  56  or  57. 

The  skeleton  of  the  hand  has  lately  been  investigated  and  figured  by  Kunze  (1912).  As 
usual,  there  are  two  series  of  bones  in  the  carpus:  a  proximal  row  consisting  of  ulnare,  radiale, 
and  intermedium,  and  a  distal  row  of  two  carpalia.  The  pisiform  is  also  present  at  the  external 
side  of  the  carpus.  Kunze's  figure  (1912,  p.  619)  is  apparently  the  first  hitherto  published 
showing  the  carpus  of  this  whale,  though  it  does  not  differ  essentially  from  that  of  the  Common 
Finback.  The  number  of  phalanges  in  the  four  digits  is  respectively  4,  6  or  7,  6  or  5,  and  4, 
beginning  with  the  exterior  digit.  In  foetuses,  there  seems  to  be  indication  of  an  eighth  phalanx 
in  the  longest  digit  (II). 

The  pelvic  bones  have  been  described  and  figured  by  Struthers  (1893,  p.  323,  pi.  20,  fig.  7) 
from  an  immature  individual  taken  at  Orkney.  These  have  a  less  pronounced  pubic  process 
(if  so  it  may  be  interpreted)  than  do  those  of  the  Common  Finback.  The  total  length  of  each 
bone  was  about  7  inches  of  which  the  terminal  cartilages  composed  1.5  inches.  The  right 
bone  was  broader  than  the  left,  and  possessed  a  marked  oval  area  corresponding  to  the  place 
where  the  acetabular  cartilage  lies  in  the  Finback,  about  one-half  inch  long  by  one-third  inch 
wide.  A  notch  is  present  on  the  external  border,  just  anterior  to  the  pubic  process,  corre- 
sponding perhaps  to  the  foramen  sometimes  seen  in  the  pelvic  bone  of  the  Finback.  Struthers 
discovered  no  trace  of  a  femur  in  his  specimen. 


238 


ALLEN:   NEW  ENGL4ND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


The  following  measurements  of  the  skull  are  taken  from  Flower's  (1864)  description  of  a 
specimen  at  Utrecht,  Holland. 

Measurements  of  the  Skull  of  Rudolphi's  Whale. 
(Specimen  at  Utrecht,  Holland). 


Ft. 

In. 

Meters 

Percent  of 
Length 
of  Skull 

Length  of  skull  in  a  straight  line 

9 

10 

2.99 

100 

Breadth  of  condyles 

1 

3 

0.38 

12.7 

"  exoccipitals 

3 

0 

0.91 

30.5 

Greatest  (squamosal)  breadth  of  skull 

5 

0 

1.52 

50.8 

Length  of  supraoccipital 

2 

3 

0.68 

22.8 

Length  of  articular  process  of  squamosal 

2 

4 

0.71 

23.7 

Length    of  orbital  process  of  frontal 

1 

7.5 

0.49 

16.5 

Breadth   "        "             "        "        "       at  base 

1 

10 

0.58 

18.6 

Length  of  beak,  from  curved  border  of  maxillary 

6 

1 

1.85 

61.8 

Length  of  maxillary 

7 

2 

2.18 

72.8 

Breadth  of  maxillaries  at  hinder  end 

1 

3 

0.38 

12.7 

Breadth  of  beak  at  middle,  across  the  curve 

2 

8 

0.81 

27.1 

"          "  maxillary  at  middle 

11 

0.27 

9.3 

"  premaxillary  at  middle 

4 

0.10 

3.3 

"  beak  J  of  its  length  from  base 

1 

10 

0.55 

18.6 

Length  of  lower  jaw  in  a  straight  line 

9 

4 

2.84 

94.9 

The  general  anatomy  of  the  soft  parts  in  this  species  probably  differs  in  no  important 
details  from  that  of  other  members  of  the  genus.  The  hand  muscles  are  quite  similar  to  those 
of  the  Common  Finback,  and  are  figured  by  Kunze. 

For  a  careful  and  detailed  account  of  the  anatomy  of  a  foetus  of  this  whale,  see  Schulte 
(1916). 

Range. 

In  the  North  Atlantic  this  species  seems  to  be  commonest  in  the  waters  of  northern 
Europe.  At  the  whaling  stations  on  the  coasts  of  Ireland,  Finmark,  and  Iceland  it  is  fre- 
quently captured.  Occasional  specimens  have  been  stranded  on  the  English  and  French 
coasts,  but  it  is  rare  south  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  Racovitza  believed  that  he  observed 
this  or  a  similar  species  in  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  its  presence  has  been  ascertained  about 
the  Falklands.  No  doubt  it  occurs  in  Greenland  waters  but  data  are  lacking.  Captain  Nilson 
informed  Millais  (1906)  that  it  was  at  times  common  on  the  eastern  Labrador  coast. 

Until  very  recently,  no  representative  of  the  species  was  known  in  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
but  Andrews  has  lately  found  that  at  the  whaling  stations  in  Japanese  waters  a  similar  whale 


RUDOLPHI'S  RORQUAL.  239 

is  ruptured,  which  therefore  represents  borcalis  in  the  North  Pacific,  and  is  considered  by  him 
(1916)  to  be  specifically  the  same. 

Occurrence  in  the  Western  Atlantic. —  Although  DeKay  (1842,  p.  131)  as  long  ago  as  1842, 
recorded  a  whale  that  stranded  in  the  Delaware  River,  N.  Y.,  as  "  Rorqualus  borealis,"  he  him- 
self never  saw  the  specimen  and  for  his  identification  relied  solely  on  information  supplied  him 
by  Dr.  Mitchill.  The  whale  was  described  as  38  feet  long,  with  whalebone  from  one  to  two 
feet  long  and  "of  a  grey  hairy  appearance."  DeKay  adds  that  it  had  no  dorsal  elevation, 
which  led  Dr.  Mitchill  to  suppose  that  it  was  "  B.  boops."  Probably  the  specimen  was  a  Hump- 
back, and  De  Kay's  description  of  "Rorqualus  borealis"  would  further  indicate  that  this  was 
the  ca<e,  since  he  mentions  the  "long  slender"  pectoral  limbs  and  "small  triangular"  dorsal 
fin.  It  is  probably  safe  to  discard  the  record  as  far  as  it  concerns  the  present  species. 

The  first  known  instance  of  the  presence  of  Rudolphi's  Rorqual  in  the  western  North 
Atlantic  was  published  by  True  (1903a),  on  "reliable  information"  of  four  specimens  taken  in 
Placentia  Bay,  on  the  southeast  coast  of  Newfoundland  and  brought  to  the  whaling  station 
at  Rose-au-rue  during  the  summer  of  1902.  None  was  taken  by  other  whaling  stations  on 
the  east  and  south  coasts.  In  1903,  when  I  visited  the  Rose-au-rue  station,  one  Pollack  Whale 
had  been  caught  that  year,  about  the  first  of  September,  and  others  were  reported  seen.  I 
examined  the  characteristic  baleen  of  this  specimen  lying  with  other  masses  of  whalebone  just 
as  taken  from  the  mouth.  In  1904,  more  stations  were  established  on  the  Newfoundland 
coast  and  according  to  Millais,  39  Rudolphi's  Rorquals  were  killed  out  of  a  total  of  1275 
whales  taken  at  fourteen  factories,  that  year.  Since  then  Andrews  (1916)  reports  two  taken  in 
each  of  the  years  1905,  1906,  1909,  and  1912. 

Occurrence  in  New  England. 

The  paucity  of  records  for  the  Pollack  Whale  on  the  North  American  coast,  as  just  indi- 
cated, makes  the  establishment  of  its  place  as  a  member  of  the  New  England  fauna  of  especial 
interest.  It  is  with  much  satisfaction  therefore  that  I  record  it  from  Chatham,  Mass.,  thus 
at  once  making  its  first  record  for  New  England  as  well  as  for  the  United  States,  and  its  most 
southerly  locality  yet  known  on  this  side  of  the  North  Atlantic.  The  specimen  in  question 
came  ashore  on  the  outer  beach  directly  in  front  of  the  Old  Harbor  Life  Saving  Station,  at 
Chatham,  in  August,  1910.  It  was  visited  by  a  number  of  people,  including  Mr.  John  Mur- 
doch, to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  information  concerning  it  and  for  a  piece  of  its  characteristic 
baleen.  The  life-savers  had  preserved  some  of  the  baleen  plates,  which  with  a  jaw  and  two 
ribs,  were  given  me  in  October,  1910,  by  Mr.  H.  E.  Eldridge,  Keeper  of  the  Station  and 
are  now  in  the  Society's  possession.  The  remainder  of  the  carcass  had  since  washed  away. 
It  was  reported  to  me  as  about  forty  feet  long,  and  was  supposed  by  the  fishermen  with 


240  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

whom  I  conversed,  to  have  been  one  of  a  school  of  "Finbacks"  that  had  been  seen  offshore 
for  several  days  together,  in  August.  These  they  thought  were  "mostly  small  whales."  At 
about  the  same  time  another  specimen  was  said  to  have  come  ashore  near  the  Chatham 
Life  Saving  Station,  but  this  I  was  unable  to  confirm.  Specimens  of  the  whalebone  are 
preserved  in  the  Museum  of  the  Society  and  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology, 
and  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  for  a  photograph  of  the  whale  at  the  Old  Harbor 
Station.  This  picture  (Plate  13,  fig.  1),  taken  by  a  casual  visitor,  is  here  reproduced. 
Though  taken  'head  on,'  it  indicates  the  relatively  short  body  as  compared  with  a  Common 
Finback,  and  shows  the  high  dorsal  fin  and  pointed  tapering  snout.  The  fact  that  a  school 
of  "small"  Finback  Whales  had  been  seen  offshore  previous  to  the  stranding  of  the  one  (or 
possibly  two)  individuals,  coupled  with  the  known  gregarious  habits  of  this  species,  raise  a 
presumption  that  there  may  have  been  a  small  school  of  Pollack  Whales  off  the  Cape  Cod 
shores  in  August,  1910.  It  is  also  evident  that  schools  of  Finbacks  reported  from  time  to 
time  on  the  coast  may  contain  individuals  of  the  present  species,  which,  however,  would  be 
difficult  of  identification  at  sea. 

Habits. 

Previous  to  the  last  few  years  our  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  this  whale  was  chiefly  con- 
fined to  the  paper  by  Collett  in  1886. 

Collett  was  told  by  the  whalers  that  when  not  feeding,  the  Pollack  Whales  swim  swiftly 
and  do  not  appear  to  blow  so  often  as  the  larger  species,  but  spout  only  once  or  twice  when 
coming  to  the  surface.  When  feeding  in  the  plankton  currents  they  swim  slowly  with  the  upper 
part  of  the  head  and  back  fin  out  of  water. 

Recent  observations  on  the  Irish  coast  (Lillie,  1910)  indicate  the  presence  there  of  this  whale 
in  late  May  and  early  June,  after  which  none  was  taken  by  the  whalers.  In  Finmark,  however, 
they  were  found  as  early  as  May  14  and  as  late  as  September  8,  though  in  a  course  of  years 
the  time  varied  more  or  less.  Usually  they  did  not  appear  in  the  Finmark  waters  till  middle  or 
late  June,  and  were  most  common  in  the  months  of  July  and  August.  Statistics  of  the  Fin- 
mark  whaling  stations,  as  compiled  by  Rawitz  (1900,  p.  104)  show  that  B.  borealis  is  the  com- 
monest of  all  the  whales  taken  on  that  coast,  which  may  be  due  in  part  as  that  author  supposes, 
to  the  fact  that  it  frequents  coastal  waters  rather  than  the  high  seas,  and  often  approaches 
very  close  to  the  land.  Rawitz  believes  that  it  does  not  appear  in  the  more  northern  waters 
until  they  have  attained  a  summer  temperature  of  9°  C.,  but  it  may  be  that  it  is  the  effect  of 
temperature  on  the  food  of  the  whale  that  regulates  its  appearance,  and  that  the  migratory 
movements  which  seem  to  be  indicated  are  wanderings  northward  in  pursuit  of  food. 

Millais  credits  it  with  an  ability  to  swim  as  fast  as  twenty-five  knots  an  hour,  but  this 
must  be  received  with  caution.  It  seems  to  be  somewhat  gregarious,  and  usually  goes  in  schools 


RUDOLPHI'S  RORQUAL.  241 

up  to  as  many  as  fifty  individuals.  Their  association,  however,  is  somewhat  irregular  and 
not  as  with  fish  that  go  in  compact  masses.  Probably  it  is  partly  the  presence  of  plankton 
in  favorable  currents  that  brings  them  into  association. 

At  the  Finmark  stations,  Collett  observed  large  foetuses  in  whales  of  this  species  taken 
during  the  summer.  Although  there  was  much  variation  in  the  size  of  foetuses  taken  at  approxi- 
mately the  same  dates,  none  the  less  it  seemed  to  be  generally  true  that  those  of  spring  or  early 
summer  were  smaller  than  those  found  later  in  the  season.  Thus  in  July  most  of  those  seen 
were  from  three  to  four  feet  long,  while  in  August  some  were  seen  up  to  eight,  ten,  or  twelve 
feet  in  length.  This  indicates  a  rapid  growth,  and  leads  to  the  supposition  that  copulation 
takes  place  in  winter  and  that  the  young  are  born  in  the  fall  or  winter  following.  As  in  whales 
generally,  a  single  young  one  is  normally  produced  at  a  birth.  Collett  records  one  instance, 
however,  in  which  two  young,  each  six  feet  seven  inches  long,  were  taken  from  a  female  43  feet 
long  on  the  Finmark  coast  at  Varangerfjord,  July  27th. 

Food. 

The  Pollack  Whale  is  believed  to  be  almost  altogether  a  plankton  feeder,  and  so  far  as 
known  subsists  chiefly  on  the  minute  copepod  Calanus  finmarchicus  and  the  schizopod  Thy- 
sanoessa  inermis.  The  former  is  probably  taken  largely  at  the  surface,  where  it  often  appears 
in  such  dense  masses  as  to  redden  the  sea,  yet  it  is  but  four  or  five  millimeters  in  length.  It 
is  suggested  by  Collett  that  the  very  fine  wool-like  bristles  of  the  whalebone  in  this  whale  are 
an  adaptation  for  sieving  out  this  minute  prey.  The  schizopod  is  perhaps  taken  at  greater 
depths  or  on  the  surface  at  night,  since  it  is  sensitive  to  bright  light  and  is  less  commonly  near 
the  surface  by  day.  Andrews  (1916)  has  lately  published  his  observations  on  this  species  in 
Japanese  waters,  where  he  found  that  small  fish  were  sometimes  taken. 

Commercial  Value. 

The  yield  of  oil  in  this  whale  is  comparatively  small,  averaging,  according  to  Collett,  17 
to  23  hectoliters  or  14  to  20  barrels,  but  may  be  as  much  as  25  or  30  barrels  from  large  fat  in- 
dividuals. In  1886  this  oil  was  valued  at  from  $135  to  $165  per  whale.  It  is  of  good  quality 
and  contains  less  stearine  than  that  of  the  other  species  of  Balaenoptera.  The  baleen,  though 
short,  is  considered  the  best  of  that  produced  by  any  of  the  Rorquals  on  account  of  its  finer 
grain.  In  Finmark  the  flesh  of  this  species  is  canned  for  human  consumption.  It  is  con- 
sidered to  be  superior  to  that  of  the  other  species  taken,  and  alone  is  preserved.  Guldberg 
(1885)  describes  it  as  in  color  about  the  same  as  beef,  whereas  that  of  the  other  Balaenopteridae 
is  much  darker. 


242  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Enemies  and  Parasites. 

Nothing  is  known  of  the  enemies  of  this  species  or  of  the  natural  causes  that  act  to  keep  its 
numbers  in  check.  No  doubt  the  Killer  Whale  occasionally  troubles  it,  but  no  record  is  known 
to  me  that  would  prove  this. 

Sundry  parasitic  crustaceans  and  worms  are  known  from  this  whale,  but  it  does  not  sup- 
port barnacles.  Collett  reports  what  were  probably  Penellae  attached  to  the  edges  of  both 
flukes,  but  he  did  not  personally  examine  them.  These  parasites  Andrews  (1916)  has  now 
shown  to  be  the  cause  of  the  oval  whitish  marks  described  on  the  body  of  this  whale.  The  cope- 
pod  Balaenophilus  unisetus  was  first  found  in  this  whale  by  Collett.  It  infests  the  whalebone 
plates  to  which  both  the  larvae  and  adults  cling  in  thousands.  Figures  are  given  of  both 
stages  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  1886,  p.  257. 

Morch  (1911,  p.  668)  writes  of  a  Rudolphi's  Rorqual  killed  in  1906  at  the  Shetlands,  which 
had  the  front  end  of  its  lower  jaw  deformed,  and  so  afforded  a  foothold  for  a  colony  of  the 
stalked  barnacle,  Conchoderma  auritum.  This  is  exceptional,  however,  for  under  normal  con- 
ditions this  whale  does  not  harbor  barnacles. 

Of  internal  parasites,  Collett  found  two  sorts  of  intestinal  worms,  one  of  which  appears 
to  be  identical  with  Echinorhynchus  porrigens,  and  has  also  been  recorded  by  Borgstrom  from 
this  whale.  The  other  Collett  describes  as  a  new  species,  E.  ruber,  but  it  has  been  shown  that 
it  is  the  same  as  E.  turbinella  Diesing.  This  latter  varies  in  size  according  to  the  degree  of 
maturity  up  to  about  25  mm.  in  length,  is  transparent  when  young  but  bright  red  when  full 
grown.  E.  porrigens  is  also  orange  red  in  color.  These  parasites  attach  themselves  by  a  head, 
thickly  studded  with  spines,  to  the  inner  wall  of  the  small  intestine,  and  absorb  their  nourish- 
ment from  the  digesting  food.  They  pass  only  a  part  of  their  life  as  parasites  of  the  whale, 
for  the  first  stage  is  lived  probably  within  some  crustacean  on  which  the  whale  feeds.  Figures 
of  these  two  Echinorhynchi  are  given  by  Borgstrom  (1892). 

Two  species  of  tape  worm  are  known  to  occur  in  the  intestinal  canal  of  Rudolphi's  Whale. 
Both  were  described  by  Lonnberg  (1892)  from  specimens  collected  at  a  whaling  station  in 
Finmark.  The  first,  Bothriocephalus  balaenopterae,  is  made  the  type  of  a  new  subgenus  Dip- 
logonoporus.  Its  scolex  or  sucking  disk  by  which  it  attaches  itself  to  the  intestinal  wall,  is 
flattened  from  side  to  side,  with  a  sucker,  shaped  in  outline  like  a  tennis  racquet.  The  second 
species,  Tetrabothrium  affme,  has  a  curiously  four-parted  scolex  of  four  round  petal-like  disks. 
It  is  allied  to  a  species  found  in  the  large  shark,  Lamna. 


PLATE  12. 

\ 

Blue  Whale  or  Sulphurbottom  (Balaenoptera  musculus).     Drawn  by  J.  Henry  Blake  after  measurements 
by  True  (1904)  of  a  Newfoundland  specimen. 


u 


OJ 

6 
Z 

CO 

o 


I 
z 


K 
O 

U 

2 


i 


m 


BLUE  WHALE.  243 


Balaenoptera  musculus  (LINN). 
BLUE  WHALE;   STJLPHURBOTTOM  WHALE. 
PLATE  11,  FIG.  3;  PLATE  12;  PLATE  13,  FIG.  3. 

SYNONYMY. 

1758.     Balaam  inusctilus  Linne,  Syst.  Nat.,  ed.  10,  vol.  1,  p.  76. 

1803-4.     Balai'tniplfrii  jiiburics  Lacepede,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Ce'taces,  vol.  1,  p.  176,  pi.  4,  fig.  1. 
1820.     BalacinniliTii  gibbar  Scoresby,  Arctic  Regions,  vol.  1,  p.  478  (not  of  Lacepede). 
1828.     Balaam  iiia.riiiin.f  borealis  Knox,  Cat.  Prep.  Whale,  p.  5. 

1828.  BalacHoptrra  musculus  Fleming,  Hist.  British  Animals,  p.  30;    True,  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  1898, 

vol.  21,  p.  632. 

1829.  Balaam  borealis  Fischer,  Synopsis  Mamm.,  p.  524  (in  part;  from  Dubar). 

1832.  Balaenoptera  rorqual  Dewhurst,  Loudon's  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  5,  p.  214  (in  part,  includes  Dubar). 

1836.  Rorqualus  loops  Cuvier,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Cetace"s,  p.  321  (in  part). 

1837.  Rorqualis  borealis  Jardine,  Naturalist's  Library,  Mammalia,  vol.  6,  p.  125  (in  part). 
1847.  Pkysalus  (Rorqualus)  sibbaldii  Gray,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  92. 

1857.     Balaenoptera  gigas  Reinhardt,  in  Rink's  Gronland  Geographisk,  og  Statistisk  Beskrevet,  Bidrag,  vol.  1, 

pt.  2,  p.  10. 
1861.     Pterobalaena  gigas  van  Beneden,  Me"m.  Acad.  Roy.  Sci.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  vol.  32,  art.  3,  p.  37. 

1863.  Pterobalaena  gryphus  Munter,  Mitth.  Naturw.  Verein  von  Neu-Vorpommern  und  Riigen,  vol.  9,  p.  1- 

107. 

1864.  Sibbaldus  borealis  Gray,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  223. 
1864.     Pkysalus  latirostris  Flower,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  419. 

1866.  Sibbaldius  borealis  Gray,  Cat.  Seals  and  W7hales  British  Museum,  ed.  2,  p.  175. 

1866.  Cuvierius  latirostris  Gray,  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Museum,  ed.  2,  p.  165. 

1866.  Cuvierius  sibbaldii  Gray,  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Museum,  ed.  2,  p.  380. 

1866.  Balaenoptera  carolinae  Malm,  Nagra  blad  om  hvaldjur  i  allmaenhet  og  Balaenoptera  carolinae  i  syn- 

nerhet,  Goeteborg. 

1867.  Flowerius  gigas  Lilljeborg,  Nova  Acta  Reg.  Soc.  Sci.  Upsala,  ser.  3,  vol.  6,  art.  6,  p.  12. 
1871.     Cuvierius  carolinae  Malm,  Kongl.  Svenska  Vet.-Akad.  Handl.,  vol.  9,  art.  2,  p.  42. 
1875.     Balaenoptera  sibbaldii  G.  O.  Sars,  Forhandl.  Vidensk.  Selsk.  Christiania,  1874,  p.  227. 

History  and  Nomenclature. 

Although  the  specific  name  musculus  has  long  been  almost  universally  applied  to  the  Com- 
mon Finback,  True  (1898)  has  now  conclusively  shown  that  Linnets  Balaena  musculus  was 
based  on  the  description  by  Sibbald,  of  a  specimen  of  the  Blue  Whale  cast  ashore  in  the  Firth 
of  Forth,  Scotland,  in  September,  1692.  This  discovery  necessitates  an  unfortunate  inter- 
change of  names,  but  Sibbald's  description  is  unmistakable,  and  constitutes  the  first  attempt 
to  bring  the  species  before  the  attention  of  naturalists.  In  recognition  of  this,  Gray  in  1847, 
proposed  that  the  species  be  called  Physalus  sibbaldii  and  later  placed  it  in  a  separate  genus 


244  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Sibbaldus  (changed  shortly  after  to  Sibbaldius  by  Flower),  with  the  specific  name  borealis  of 
Knox  (1828).     This  latter  was  unfortunately  preoccupied  by  Lesson's  borealis  for  the  Pollack 
Whale.     Curiously,  in  his  Catalogue  of  Seals  and  Whales,  published  in  1866,  Gray  applies  no 
less  than  three  different  names  to  the  Blue  Whale,  but  the  supposed  differences  were  not  of  the 
importance  he  assigned  them.     Thus  his  Physalus  sibbaldii  was  based  largely  on  a  skeleton 
preserved  at  Hull,  and  his  Sibbaldius  borealis  was  founded  in  part  on  Dubar's  (1828)  description  of 
a  specimen  cast  ashore  at  Ostend.     In  the  same  work  he  erects  the  genus  Cuvierius  to  include 
the  single  species  (Physalus)  latirostris  of  Flower  (1864)  but  in  the  Additions  and  Corrections, 
states  that  this  is  the  same  as  Physalus  sibbaldii  and  that  the  name  should  stand  as  Cuvierius 
sibbaldii.     To  the  same  genus  was  referred  the  subfossil  Balaenoptera  carolinae  of  Malm,  now 
synonymized  with  the  Blue  Whale.     Lacepede,  in  1803^4,  revised  the  classification  of  these 
whales,  and  introduced  sundry  new  names  into  the  nomenclature.     He  founded  the  genus 
Balaenoptera,  to  embrace  the  Finner  Whales,  and  included  the  Blue  Whale  under  the  specific 
name  jubarles,  though  his  description  probably  applies  in  part  to  at  least  two  other  species, 
the  Common  Finback  and  the  Humpback.    No  doubt  it  is  in  a  measure  due  to  this  confusion, 
that  later  authors  found  some  difficulty  in  applying  his  names.     Thus  Scoresby  (1820)  de- 
scribes a  Blue  Whale  under  the  title  Balaenoptera  gibbar,  and  Dewhurst  (1832)  includes  Dubar's 
Ostend  Sulphurbottom  under  Balaenoptera  rorqual,  names  which  are  primarily  synonyms  of 
the  Common  Finback.     The  British  naturalist  Fleming  was  the  first  to  call  it  Balaenoptera 
musculus,  its  correct  name.     Later  authors  placed  it  successively  in  the  genera  Rorqualus, 
Physalus,  Pterobalaena,  Sibbaldius,  Cuvierius,  Flowerius,  but  it  is  now  recognized  that  the 
differences  on  which  these  supposed  genera  were  based,  are  chiefly  small  matters  of  individual 
variation.     Eschricht  in  his  important  memoir  of  1849,  proposed  the  name  Pterobalaena  in  a 
group  sense,  to  include  the  species  now  referred  to  Balaenoptera.     This  was  later  used  as  a 
generic  term  by  Van  Beneden,  who  in  1861  adopted  the  combination  Pterobalaena  gigas.     The 
specific  name  gigas  had  been  proposed  four  years  earlier  by  Reinhardt  in  spite  of  the  fact  of 
prior  names.     The  labors  of  J.  E.  Gray,  as  already  pointed  out,  hardly  settled  the  matter,  and 
most  later  writers  have  followed  G.  O.  Sars  (1875)  in  calling  the  Blue  Whale  Balaenoptera 
sibbaldii.     Finally,  True  in  1898  restudied  the  Linnaean  references,  and  conclusively  showed 
that  Linne's  Balaena  musculus,  which  had  long  been  in  use  for  the  Common  Finback,  applied 
after  all  to  the  Blue  Whale. 

The  type  locality  of  this  species  is,  as  given  by  Linne,  "in  mari  Scotico."  The  name,  as 
just  mentioned,  was  based  on  Sibbald's  description  of  a  specimen  from  the  Firth  of  Forth, 
Scotland. 


BLUE  WHALE.  245 

Vernacular  Names. 

This,  the  largest  of  living  mammals,  is  often  spoken  of  as  Sibbald's  Whale  or  Sibbald's 
Rorqual  after  the  Scotch  naturalist  of  that  name  who  first  brought  it  to  the  notice  of  scientists 
in  his  work  on  whales  of  the  Scottish  coasts,  published  in  1692.  From  its  size  and  habitat,  it 
is  also  called  the  Great  Northern  Rorqual,  but  more  commonly  Sulphurbottom  Whale,  or 
Sulphurbottom  (shortened  by  the  Newfoundland  whalers  to  'Sulphur'),  notwithstanding 
that  the  latter  term  is  a  gross  misnomer.  How  this  name  arose  is  not  altogether  clear,  though 
Scammon,  in  writing  of  the  representative  of  this  whale  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  supposes  it  is 
descriptive  of  "a  yellowish  cast  or  sulphur  color,"  which  he  says,  is  in  some  instances  to  be 
noted  on  the  under  surfaces.  It  seems  better  to  use  the  more  descriptive  epithet  of  Blue  Whale, 
which  indicates  the  slaty-gray  of  its  color.  This  is  merely  following  Norwegian  usage,  how- 
ever, since  Blue  Whale  is  but  a  translation  of  '  Blaahval,'  first  applied  to  it  by  the  Norwegian 
whaler,  Capt.  Svend  Foyn,  and  formally  adopted  by  Sars  (1875).  It  has  brevity  to  recommend 
it  as  well.  The  German  word  is  'Blauwal,'  after  the  Norwegian.  In  Icelandic  it  is  called 
'Steypiredyr,'  meaning  a  great  whale. 

Description. 

Form. —  Compared  with  the  Common  Finback,  the  Blue  Whale  is  longer  of  body  but 
the  head  is  differently  shaped,  with  a  broader  muzzle,  the  sides  of  which  are  bowed  outward 
instead  of  being  nearly  straight.  A  prominent  ridge  runs  forward  from  the  blowholes  on  the 
center  of  the  snout.  The  pectoral  fin  is  slightly  longer  in  proportion  and  its  outline  charac- 
teristically different.  Its  outer  margin  is  more  convex,  and  its  inner  margin  a  long  sigmoid 
curve,  with  more  of  a  concavity  near  the  tip.  Frequently  the  tip  is  serrated  as  if  the  ends  of  the 
four  fingers  projected  slightly  at  the  margin  of  thfc  paddle.  This  was  seen  in  several  cases  at 
Newfoundland  by  True  and  by  myself  (see  text-figs.  8,  9).  Sars  also  mentions  it.  Sometimes 
this  appearance  may  be  present  on  but  one  side  only.  True  believed  that  this  irregular  margin 
of  the  end  of  the  pectorals  was  "due  in  most  cases  to  external  injury."  Certainly,  however, 
it  may  be  a  perfectly  normal  occurrence,  since  a  foetus  from  Newfoundland  which  I  dissected, 
had  a  small  notch  at  the  tip  of  each  pectoral,  forming  an  emargination  between  the  two  longest 
digits  (II  and  IV),  as  shown  in  outline  in  text-fig.  8. 

The  adipose  fin  at  the  lower  part  of  the  back  is  generally  much  smaller  in  proportion,  than 
in  the  other  Balaenopterae,  nearly  an  equal-sided  triangle  in  outline  with  a  concave  hinder 
margin. 

As  in  the  Common  Finback,  the  eye  is  behind  and  a  little  above  the  angle  of  the  mouth. 
The  eyeball  itself  in  a  71-foot  animal  was  5  inches  in  antero-posterior  length  and  4.5  inches  in 


246 


ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


vertical  height  according  to  True  (1904,  p.  175).     The  iris  was  brown  and  the  pupil  "oblong 
with  a  straight  superior  margin." 

The  mammae  are  two  in  number  as  in  other  whales,  concealed  each  in  a  longitudinal  slit 


TEXT-FIGS.  8,  9. —  Outlines  of  pectoral  limbs  of  Blue  Whales  (Balaenoptera  musculus)  showing  emarginations  between 
the  fingers. 

8. —  From  a  foetal  specimen  (original). 

9. —  From  a  photograph  of  an  adult  at  Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland  (original). 

opposite  the  vaginal  opening.  Rudimentary  mammae  are  present  in  the  male.  The  penis 
is  retractile  within  the  body,  some  six  feet  in  length. 

Plicae. —  The  plicae  or  ridges  and  furrows  of  the  ventral  side,  extend  from  the  lower 
margin  of  the  lips  to  the  navel  as  in  the  Common  Finback.  Side  branches  come  off  irregularly, 
uniting  adjacent  ridges,  and  towards  the  posterior  part  of  the  thorax  they  run  together,  so  that 
the  number  is  much  reduced  there  as  compared  with  that  on  a  line  between  the  forelimbs. 
True  found  a  variation  of  from  58  to  88  ridges  between  the  roots  of  the  pectorals  in  Newfound- 
land specimens,  and  this  is  apparently  not  correlated  with  size  or  sex. 

Color. —  The  general  coloration  is  a  slaty-gray,  with  a  decidedly  bluish  cast,  darker  on 
the  head,  lips,  and  throat,  paler  along  the  sides.  The  shoulders,  back,  and  sides  are  irregularly 
mottled  with  small  grayish  patches.  Millais  describes  a  freshly  killed  specimen  as  "pale  blue 
gray."  The  belly,  including  the  area  of  the  throat  folds  and  thence  posteriorly  to  the  navel, 
has  small  scattered  white  marks  of  irregular  shape,  some  larger,  some  smaller,  but  rather  sharply 
outlined.  These  are  usually  most  abundant  at  the  lower  part  of  the  throat.  In  some  speci- 
mens the  white  flecks  extend  forward  even  to  the  lips,  but  usually  there  are  but  few  in  front 
of  the  pectoral  fins.  True  observed  a  few  cases  in  which  they  were  so  numerous  under  the  root 
of  the  pectoral  as  to  form  a  large  white  band  extending  backward  toward  the  navel;  in  others 
they  are  confined  to  the  posterior  portion  of  the  ventral  folds,  in  the  middle.  There  is  great 
individual  variation  in  these  details.  The  dorsal  fin  is  likewise  more  or  less  marked  with 


BLUE  WHALE. 


247 


whitish  over  its  central  part.  '  The  pectorals  are  gray  above  and  more  or  less  distinctly  mottled 
like  the  back.  The  under  surface,  anterior  margin,  and  tip  above  and  below  are  white"  (True, 
1904).  The  extent  of  the  white  tip  on  the  outer  surface  may  be  as  great  as  two  feet.  The  flukes 
underneath  are  usually  colored  like  the  back,  with,  however,  more  or  less  of  greyish  streaks  at 
the  base,  running  posteriorly.  In  some  individuals  the  flukes  are  nearly  white  below,  with 
the  usual  streaks  of  light  gray.  The  inside  of  the  mouth  is  black,  the  tongue  slate  gray. 

In  life,  the  appearance  of  the  back  as  it  comes  above  water,  is  mouse  color  or  elephant 
gray.  After  death,  as  in  all  whales,  and  with  exposure  to  air,  the  colors  of  the  body  rapidly 
darken  and  eventually  become  quite  black,  so  that  unless  freshly  killed  specimens  are  examined, 
it  is  difficult  or  impossible  to  judge  of  the  true  color  of  the  animal. 

Hair. —  As  in  other  whales  of  this  genus,  hairs  are  present  on  the  head  only,  and  their 
number  and  arrangement  are  of  a  very  definite  nature.  In  a  foetal  Blue  Whale  from  New- 
foundland, 630  mm.  long,  I  found  on  each  side  of  the  snout  two  distinct  longitudinal  rows 
running  parallel  to  the  edge  of  the  upper  lip.  The  inner  row  consists  of  nine  single  bristles, 


10  11 

TEXT-FIG.  10. —  Head  of  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  (Eubalaena  glacialis)  from  above,  to  show  narrow  rostrum  and 
divergent  blowholes  (from  a  photograph  of  the  Provincetown  1909  specimen). 

TKXT-FIG.  11. —  Head  of  a  foetal  Blue  Whale  (Balaenoplera  musculus)  to  show  broad  rostrum,  slightly  divergent 
blowholes,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  hairs  (original). 

rather  evenly  spaced,  the  hindermost  of  which  is  just  back  of  a  line  drawn  across  the  posterior 
ends  of  the  blowholes.  The  entire  row  forms  a  convex  line  that  ends  at  the  commencement 
of  the  terminal  fourth  of  the  upper  jaw.  The  outer  row  contains  but  eight  bristles,  the  two 


248 


ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


posteriormost  of  which  are  close  together,  the  three  or  four  succeeding  ones  more  widely  spaced. 
The  two  hindermost  bristles  are  much  nearer  the  edge  of  the  lip  than  the  others,  so  that  the 
row  curves  downward  here,  toward  the  corner  of  the  mouth.  Directly  above  these  two  bristles, 
and  standing  between  the  inner  and  the  outer  row  is  a  single  bristle  (see  diagram,  text-fig.  11). 
On  the  upper  surface  of  the  snout  there  are  thus  eighteen  hairs  on  each  side. 

On  the  lower  jaw  there  are  again  two  rows  of  hairs  on  each  side,  but  very  differently  placed. 
At  the  tip  of  the  jaw  are  two  vertical  rows  of  nine  bristles  each,  very  close  together  in  the  foetus, 
but  three  inches  apart  in  an  adult  and  extending  the  height  of  the  lip.  The  rows  diverge 
somewhat  dorsally  but  are  parallel  for  the  lower  three-fifths.  The  second  row  is  on  the  side 
of  the  lip,  and  consists  of  seven  hairs,  somewhat  regularly  spaced.  The  first  hair  of  this  row 
is  back  from  the  tip  of  the  jaw  at  about  the  beginning  of  the  second  quarter  of  its  length.  In- 
stead of  running  parallel  to  the  convex  upper  margin  of  the  lip,  this  row  of  hairs  forms  a  chord 
of  the  arc,  on  the  line  with  the  rami  of  the  jaws. 

The  Blue  Whale  has  thus  in  all  68  of  these  large  hairs,  each  of  which  comes  from  a  promi- 
nent raised  follicle.  They  correspond  more  or  less  in  position  to  the  vibrissae  or  'whiskers' 
of  other  mammals,  and  probably  have  a  tactile  function.  In  adult  whales  these  hairs  are 
sometimes  absent,  or  at  all  events  not  easy  to  find.  Possibly  they  become  worn  down  or  may 
fall  out  with  age. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  arrangement  of  the  hairs  is  similar  to  that  in  the  Finback,  but 
the  Blue  Whale  has  a  slightly  greater  number. 

In  addition  to  these  prominent  vibrissal  hairs,  there  are  a  number  of  small  hairs  at  the  point 
of  the  lower  jaw,  yellowish  in  color,  and  in  a  specimen  I  examined  at  Newfoundland,  about 
fifty  in  number. 

Baleen. —  The  whalebone  plates  are  larger  and  coarser  than  in  any  of  the  other  Balaenop- 
terae.  The  longest  measure  from  23  to  32  inches  in  animals  of  about  seventy  feet  or  over 
(True),  but  the  latter  dimension  is  unusual.  The  bristles  that  fray  out  from  the  inner  margin 
of  the  plates  are  very  coarse  and  stiff,  and  like  the  blade  itself  are  wholly  coal  black.  The 
combination  of  black  baleen  including  the  bristles  is  characteristic  of  this  species  of  Balaenop- 
tera.  The  only  other  species  of  the  genus  having  black  whalebone  is  B.  borealis,  but  in  this 
the  bristles  are  very  fine  and  white. 

Weight. —  No  attempt  to  measure  accurately  the  weight  of  a  Blue  Whale  seems  ever  to 
have  been  made.  An  approximation,  however,  has  been  attempted  by  Guldberg  (1907)  for 
this  species,  using  the  same  method  described  under  the  Common  Finback.  By  considering 
the  body  of  the  whale  to  resemble  in  shape  a  solid  composed  of  two  cones,  a  longer  and  a  shorter 
of  equal  basal  area,  it  is  possible  by  a  mathematical  formula  to  calculate  the  volume  of  this 
solid,  and  thus,  by  assuming  a  specific  gravity  equal  to  that  of  water,  to  obtain  the  weight  of 
such  a  body.  To  make  this  calculation,  two  measurements  are  needed:  the  total  length  in 


BLUE  WHALE.  249 

a  straight  line  and  the  girth.  These  dimensions  for  twenty-one  Blue  Whales  were  obtained  by 
Captain  Berg,  at  an  Icelandic  whaling  station  and  were  used  by  Guldberg  in  his  calculations. 
Of  these  twenty-one  whales,  the  extremes  of  length  were  61.5  and  84  feet,  and  the  extremes  of 
greatest  girth  32  to  40;  the  averages  of  these  dimensions  were  respectively  72.45  feet  and 
36.02.  By  applying  these  figures  in  the  formula  the  weight  of  a  J2-foot  Blue  Whale  is  found 
to  approximate  73.8  tons  or  73,800  kilograms.  This,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  an  approxi- 
mation only,  as  no  account  is  taken  of  the  large  pectoral  limbs  or  of  the  flukes.  Moreover 
the  form  of  the  body  before  and  behind  the  point  of  greatest  girth  is  not  exactly  that  of  a  cone. 
Turner  has  independently  estimated  the  weight  of  a  Blue  Whale  at  about  seventy  tons.  Ac- 
cording to  Andrews,1  a  76-foot  Blue  Whale  from  Newfoundland,  of  which  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History  has  a  life-size  model,  was  said  to  weigh  63  tons. 

External  Measurements. —  The  greatest  length  to  which  this  species  may  attain  is  still 
a  matter  of  some  doubt.  Measurements  exceeding  100  feet  have  been  recorded,  and  estimates 
of  large  individuals  run  as  high  as  132  feet.  It  is  now  agreed,  however,  that  such  figures  are 
unreliable,  or  were  taken  in  such  a  way  as  to  exaggerate  the  true  length.  The  best  series  of 
measurements  extant  is  that  given  in  True's  monograph  (1904,  p.  153).  Of  twenty-five  Blue 
Whales  measured  at  Newfoundland,  the  largest  was  77  feet  2  inches  from  the  tip  of  the  upper 
jaw  to  the  notch  of  the  flukes  in  a  right  line.  This  is  probably  nearly  a  true  maximum,  but 
may  be  exceeded.  Measurements  from  Norwegian  stations  run  up  to  87  feet  6.5  inches,  but 
may  have  been  taken  in  a  different  way.  There  is  evidence  that  females  may  grow  to  a  larger 
size  than  males,  but  the  difference,  at  most,  is  slight,  and  might  disappear  with  larger  series. 
Thus  of  the  ten  males  measured  by  Dr.  True,  four  exceeded  seventy  feet,  though  the  largest 
was  but  72  feet  7  inches;  while  of  the  fifteen  females,  six  were  seventy  feet  long,  four  were  over 
73  feet,  and  the  longest  of  all  was  77  feet  2  inches,  as  above  noted.  Yet  the  average  of  the  ten 
males  and  of  the  sixteen  females  is  respectively  68  feet  3  inches  and  68  feet  9  inches,  a  very 
trifling  difference  in  such  great  creatures.  The  smallest  female  with  a  foetus  (and  so  adult) 
that  Dr.  True  measured,  was  72  feet  long.  At  the  Norwegian  stations,  Cocks  (1885)  found 
that  the  largest  of  thirty-six  females  exceeded  by  2  feet  6.5  inches  the  largest  of  an  equal  num- 
ber of  males. 

No  measurements  of  New  England  specimens  are  available,  but  the  following,  based  on 
Dr.  True's  lists,  indicate  the  proportions  of  an  adult  male  and  an  adult  female.  As  with  the 
Finback,  I  have  worked  out  the  percentage  of  each  dimension  to  the  total  length. 

The  height  of  the  dorsal  fin  is  usually  between  6  and  10  inches  but  in  three  cases  out  of 
twenty-four  exceeded  a  foot  by  from  2  to  3.5  inches,  thus  nearly  equalling  the  smallest  meas- 
urements for  adults  of  the  Common  Finback.  The  other  measurements  seem  to  vary  but 
relatively  little. 

1  Amer.  Museum  Journal,  1914,  vol.  14,  p.  279. 


250 


ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


External  Measurements  of  Blue  Whales  (after  True,  1904). 


Newfoundland 
cf  No.  18 

Newfoundland 
9  No.  4 

Newfoundland 
c?  No.  10 

Ft.       In. 

Meters 

% 

Ft.       In. 

Meters 

% 

Ft.         In. 

Meters 

% 

Total  length,  snout  to  notch  of  flukes 

72    2 

22.1 

100 

73    6 

22.40 

100 

72    7 

22.12 

100 

Tip  of  snout  to  eye 

16    0 

4.98 

22.0 

16    3 

4.95 

22.1 

15    3.5 

4.65 

21.0 

«     "      "       "  blowhole  (center) 

13    8 

4.17 

18.8 

"      "       "       "  posterior  insertion  of 

pectoral 

25    3 

7.70 

34.7 

25     6 

7.77 

34.7 

25    5 

7.75 

35.01 

Tip  of  snout  to  posterior  base  of  dor- 

sal fin 

55  11 

17.04 

77.0 

56  10 

17.32 

77.3 

Notch  of  flukes  to  anus 

19    6 

5.94 

26.8 

19     7 

5.97 

26.6 

20    8 

6.30 

28.47 

"       "      "        "  clitoris 

21     9 

6.63 

29.5 

"       "       «        "  penis    (center    of 

orifice) 

24    5 

7.44 

33.6 

25    5 

7.75 

35.01 

Length  of  pectoral  from  head  of  hu- 

mcrus 

11     0 

3.35 

15.1 

11     0 

3.35 

14.9 

11     7 

3.53 

15.05 

Length  of  pectoral  from  tip  to  poste- 

rior insertion 

7    5 

2.26 

10.2 

7    7 

2.31 

10.2 

7     10 

2.39 

10.70 

Greatest  breadth  of  pectoral 

2    9 

0.84 

3.79 

2    8 

0.81 

3.62 

3    0 

0.91 

4.13 

Height  of  dorsal  fin 

0    8.5 

0.21 

0.97 

0    7.5 

0.19 

0.85 

0     10 

0.25 

1.14 

Center  of  eye  to  center  of  ear  opening 

3    8.5 

1.13 

5.11 

3     8 

1.12 

4.98 

3     10.5 

1.18 

5.33 

Breadth  across  flukes 

16  10 

5.13 

23.21 

Length  of  longest  whalebone 

1  11 

0.58 

0.26 

1     11 

0.58 

0.20 

Musculature. —  There  is  no  complete  account  of  the  muscular  system  of  the  Blue  Whale 
published,  but  it  probably  differs  little  from  that  of  the  Common  Finback.  A  foetus  of  630  mm. 
length  that  I  dissected  had  the  same  rudimentary  finger  muscles  as  in  that  species  (q.  v.),  so 
that  Struthers'  account  and  figures  would  apply  equally  to  both.  The  great  superficial  muscles 
are  prominent  in  the  foetus  and  are  exposed  by  carefully  removing  the  thin  layer  of  blubber 
(2  mm.  in  thickness),  to  which  they  are  attached  by  loose  connective  tissue.  The  more  dorsal 
layer  seems  to  correspond  to  a  panniculus  and  extends  as  a  thin  sheet  from  a  point  midway 
between  the  eye  and  pectoral  limb,  back  nearly  to  the  anus.  It  does  not  reach  the  mid-line  of 
the  back,  though  thin  fasciae  extend  from  its  upper  edge  nearly  to  the  spine.  Its  lower  border 
forms  a  line  joining  the  axilla  and  the  anus.  On  the  region  of  the  forearm  it  passes  into  a  tendi- 
nous sheet  that  invests  the  upper  part  of  the  limb,  but  I  did  not  discover  a  definite  insertion. 

The  entire  ventral  surface  from  the  anus  forward  including  the  basal  half  of  the  jaws  is 
covered  by  a  continuous  sheet  of  muscle  whose  fibers  run  transversely  from  the  lower  edge  of 
the  panniculus.  It  appears  to  represent  the  mylohyoid.  A  portion  of  this  muscle  is  inserted 
just  behind  the  eye  and  on  a  level  with  it.  In  an  embryo  of  this  size  the  longitudinal  throat 


PLATE  13. 

Fig.  1.  Rudolphi's  Rorqual  (Balaenoptera  borealis).  A  photograph  of  the  specimen  stranded  at 
Chatham,  Mass.,  in  August,  1910.  The  whale  lies  on  its  right  side,  with  back  to  the  observer 
and  though  foreshortened,  the  figure  shows  in  upper  view  the  long  and  evenly  tapering  snout, 
the  slit-like  blowholes,  one  of  the  broad  flukes,  and  (behind  the  right  knee  of  the  farther  figure) 
the  high  dorsal  fin. 

Fig.  2.  Little  Piked  Whale  (Balaenoptera  acvto-rostrata).  A  view  of  the  under  side  of  the  specimen 
captured  at  South  Truro,  Mass.,  June  25,  1910.  The  long  throat  folds  are  seen  running  back 
half  way  on  the  belly.  The  white  band  on  the  pectoral  flippers,  the  white  under  surface  of  the 
flukes,  the  relative  position  of  the  anus  and  mammary  slits  are  seen. 

Fig.  3.  Blue  Whale  (Balaenoptera  musculus)  in  the  act  of  spouting,  seen  from  behind  as  the  whale 
breaks  water.  Photographed  by  the  writer  from  the  deck  of  the  whaling  steamer  Puma  in 
Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland. 

Fig.  4.  Common  Finback  Whale  (Balaenoptera  physalus)  after  spouting,  showing  the  body  arched  as 
it  slowly  revolves  out  of  the  water  and  descends  below  the  surface.  Photographed  by  the  writer 
in  Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland.  The  whale  is  progressing  from  the  right  to  the  left  hand  of 
the  picture. 

Fig.  5.  Common  Finback  Whale  about  to  disappear  below  the  surface  and  showing  the  high  dorsal 
fin,  which  passing  forward  (to  the  left)  disappears  as  the  body  sinks.  Photographed  by  the 
writer  in  Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland. 


MEMOIRS  BOSTON  Soc.  NAT.  HIST.  VOL.  8,  No.  2. 


PLATE  13. 


•     - 


• 


NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


BLUE  WHALE. 


251 


grooves  have  not  yet  formed,  but  the  muscle  just  described  will  eventually  become  the  elastic, 
plaited  bag  of  the  throat. 

Skeleton. —  The  skeletal  characters  of  the  Blue  Whale  are  still  imperfectly  known,  and  of 
American  specimens  there  are  very  few  measurements  published.  These  relate  chiefly  to  a 
New  Jersey  skeleton  preserved  in  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Sciences.  It  will  suffice  to 
summarize  the  chief  points  that  distinguish  this  species  from  the  Common  Finback. 

The  most  obvious  peculiarity  of  the  skull  is  the  relatively  greater  breadth  of  the  rostrum, 
which,  instead  of  being  narrow  and  tapering  is  proportionally  broader  than  in  the  Common 
Finback  with  convex  outlines  (Plate  11,  fig.  3).  Thus  in  the  latter  species  the  average  breadth 
of  the  rostrum  at  the  middle  is  about  19.6%  of  the  length  of  the  skull  (True)  while  in  the  Blue 
Whale  the  breadth  at  this  point  is  nearer  29%.  The  palatal  bones  are  also  broader,  and  the 
nasals  are  truncate  across  at  their  anterior  end.  In  other  respects  the  skull  is  much  like  that 
of  the  Common  Finback.  The  principal  dimensions  of  the  New  Jersey  skull  are  given  by 
True  as  follows:  — 


Ft. 

In. 

Meters 

Total  length  of  skull,  in  a  straight  line 

14 

7.5 

4.46 

Greatest  breadth  at  the  squamosal  region 

7 

3 

2.21 

Width  of  orbital  process  of  frontal  at  distal  end 

0 

11.5 

0.29 

Length  of  rostrum  in  a  straight  line 

9 

7.5 

2.92 

Breadth  of  rostrum  at  the  middle,  following  curve 

1 

5.5 

0.44 

Length  of  lower  jaw  in  a  straight  line 

15 

2 

4.62 

"       "        "    on  the  outside  curve 

17 

1 

5.28 

Depth  of  mandible  at  the  middle 

1 

1 

0.33 

Except  for  this  specimen,  no  skull  measurements  of  the  Blue  Whale  are  available  for  American 
waters. 

The  number  of  vertebrae  is  nearly  the  same  as  for  the  Common  Finback,  but  the  number 
of  caudals  is  usually  one  or  two  more.  Three  foetuses  dissected  with  care  by  Dr.  True  (1904, 
p.  182)  at  Newfoundland  showed  the  following  variation: 


1 
2 
3 


1 
7 


Dorsals 

Lumbars 

Caudiilx 

Total 

16 

15 

27 

64 

15 

14 

28 

65 

15 

16 

26 

65 

These  counts  express  about  the  usual  variation  and  accord  fairly  with  those  published 
for  adult  European  examples.  The  number  of  ribs  is  usually  fifteen  but  occasionally  is 
sixteen,  and  so  few  as  fourteen  are  recorded  in  one  case.  The  lumbars  are  from  thirteen  to 
sixteen,  commonly  fifteen,  the  caudals  from  twenty-six  to  twenty-eight.  The  total  number  of 


252  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

vertebrae  is  usually  64,  but  varies  one  more  or  less  than  this.  The  neck  vertebrae  are 
normally  separate. 

The  second  and  third  ribs  have  well  developed  capitular  processes,  and  the  fourth  has  a 
smaller  one,  extending  in  toward  the  vertebral  column.  These  are  the  vestiges  of  the  heads 
of  the  ribs  which  in  other  mammals  form  the  chief  articulation  with  the  centra  of  the  vertebrae 
throughout  the  series.  In  the  Balaenopterae  this  inner  articulation  has  been  lost  and  the 
ribs  are  loosely  attached  by  their  tubercles  only,  at  the  tips  of  the  lateral  processes  of  the  verte- 
brae. In  the  skeleton  at  Ostend  described  by  Dubar  the  first  rib  has  two  heads  —  as  occa- 
sionally in  the  Common  Finback. 

The  sternum  is  probably  subject  to  much  the  same  variation  as  that  of  the  latter  species, 
though  the  few  figured  specimens  are  somewhat  similar:  namely  a  transverse  plate,  with  a 
small  protuberance  at  its  front  edge  and  a  longer  one  behind  that  extends  between  the  lower 
ends  of  the  first  pair  of  ribs. 

The  scapula  is  fairly  characteristic.  Though  in  general  much  like  that  of  the  Common 
Finback,  its  upper  outline  is  less  flattened,  making  thus  a  more  even  arc.  The  acromion  pro- 
cess is  slightly  larger,  and  expanded  at  the  end.  The  coracoid  process  is  decidedly  thicker 
and  nearly  half  the  length  of  the  acromion. 

The  radius  in  the  Blue  Whale  "is  remarkable  for  its  breadth,  and  the  ulna  for  its  strong 
curvature"  (True)  as  compared  with  these  bones  in  the  Common  Finback.  In  the  New  Jersey 
specimen  (60  feet  long)  the  radius  measured  32.5  inches  (0.82  m.)  in  length  and  10  inches 
(0.25  m.)  in  breadth  at  the  distal  end.  The  ulna  was  34.5  (0.87  m.)  long  and  8  inches 
(0.20  m.)  in  breadth  at  the  distal  end. 

The  number  of  phalangeal  bones  probably  varies  within  slight  limits.  The  greatest  number 
recorded  is  that  given  by  True  for  a  foetus  he  dissected,  namely,  5,  8,  7,  4  for  the  respective 
digits.  In  six  other  specimens  recorded  by  European  authors,  the  variations  are:  14;  II  5 
to  7,  IV  5  to  7,  V  3  to  4. 

The  pelvic  bones  seem  slightly  more  reduced  than  in  the  Common  Finback,  though 
of  much  the  same  general  shape.  Lonnberg  (1910,  p.  10)  has  figured  one  of  the  pelvic  bones 
in  a  Blue  Whale  from  the  South  Atlantic.  He  found  no  trace  of  the  rudimentary  femur,  though 
on  account  of  the  immaturity  of  his  specimen  it  is  likely  that  it  had  not  ossified.  Dubar  (1828) 
figures  the  pelvic  bones  of  the  Ostend  Blue  Whale,  but  the  representations  are  poorly  executed ; 
this  author  likewise  omits  reference  to  any  rudimentary  femur. 

Habits. 

The  Blue  Whale  is  less  social  than  the  Common  Finback,  and  does  not  seem  to  gather 
into  large  schools.  Commonly  it  is  seen  singly  or  in  pairs.  Whales,  when  travelling  in  pairs, 
move  in  unison,  rising  and  diving  together  with  much  regularity.  As  with  other  large  whales, 


BLUE  WHALE.  253 

there  arc  two  sorts  of  dives:  the  series  of  shallower  or  surface  dives  followed  by  the  deep  dive 
when  (he  whale  'sounds'  or  goes  down  for  a  longer  period.  The  Blue  Whale  after  coining  to 
the  surface  from  a  deep  dive  makes  about  twelve  to  fifteen  of  the  shallow  dives,  then  goes  down 
again  for  an  interval  of  from  five  to  ten  minutes  or  more.  Millais  has  timed  them  at  these 
longer  dives,  from  ten  to  twenty  minutes  down.  At  each  of  the  short  dives  the  vertex  of  the 
head  first  appears  and  simultaneously  the  spout  is  delivered  (Plate  13,  fig.  3) ;  the  open  nostrils 
I  lien  take  in  breath  and  close  with  the  sinking  of  the  head,  which  passes  forward  beneath  the 
surface.  Then  a  section  of  the  broad  back  arches  from  the  water  and  slides  forward  and  under 
in  its  course,  till  finally  the  dorsal  fin  appears,  small  and  low,  and  as  it  too  revolves,  wheel-like, 
the  animal  sinks  beneath  the  waves.  At  about  three  times  its  own  length  (some  150  to  200 
feet)  it  again  comes  to  the  surface,  'blows'  and  goes  down  again,  until  having  sufficiently 
refreshed  its  lungs,  it  plunges  into  the  depths,  often  throwing  its  great  tail  or  flukes  out  of  water 
at  the  end  of  the  movement.  Scoresby  says  (1820,  vol.  1,  p.  481)  that  it  "very  rarely  throws 
its  tail  in  the  air"  when  it  descends.  My  own  observations  are  limited  but  seem  to  bear  this 
out  to  some  extent.  Millais  observed  that  "only  occasionally,  when  actually  'on  feed'  does 
it  ever  exhibit  the  tail  clear  of  the  water,"  but  in  making  its  big  dive,  a  bull  "will  often  raise 
the  tail  clear  of  the  water."  The  duration  of  the  shallow  dives  is  about  12  to  15  seconds. 

The  height  of  the  spout  varies  according  to  conditions  —  whether  the  whale  has  been  down 
long  or  if  a  wind  be  blowing  to  distort  the  shape  of  the  column,  which  is  comparatively  high 
and  expanded  slightly  at  the  summit.  The  Newfoundland  whalemen  did  not  pretend  to  dis- 
tinguish the  spout  of  the  Blue  Whale  from  that  of  the  Common  Finback,  though  some  writers 
have  stated  that  the  greater  size  of  the  Blue  Whale's  spout  is  characteristic.  A  very  successful 
photograph  of  the  Blue  Whale  in  the  act  of  spouting  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  the  deck 
of  the  Puma  in  Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland  (Plate  13,  fig.  3).  It  shows  the  lateral  lips  of 
the  blowholes  well  raised  as  the  breath  is  forcibly  expelled,  and  the  conical  shape  of  the  vapor- 
ous column,  slightly  distorted  by  the  wind.  The  height  of  the  column  probably  does  not 
exceed  twenty  feet,  though  estimates  run  as  high  as  fifty.  In  Newfoundland  waters  I  had  a 
chance  to  photograph  the  spout  of  a  Blue  Whale  at  a  moment  when  the  Norwegian  captain 
of  the  whaler's  crew  stood  up  to  lance  the  whale.  The  comparative  height  of  the  column  in 
the  photograph  (see  Amer.  Naturalist,  1904,  p.  620)  is  about  two  and  one-third  times  that  of 
the  man,  or  about  fourteen  feet.  Rawitz  estimates  about  a  meter  (3  feet).  The  whale  in 
diving  leaves  a  long  'slick'  or  smooth  elliptical  area  on  the  surface,  caused  by  the  counter 
currents  of  water  that  rush  in  to  fill  the  potential  vacuum  as  the  whale  rises  and  descends. 

The  speed  of  a  Blue  Whale  when  travelling  at  a  normal  rate  is  in  the  vicinity  of  ten  to 
twelve  knots  an  hour,  but  when  frightened  it  is  undoubtedly  much  more.  Two  whales  which 
we  pursued  in  the  whaling  steamer  Puma  in  Placentia  Bay,  Newfoundland,  could  not  be  over- 
hauled after  a  long  chase,  though  the  little  vessel  was  making  all  of  ten  knots  an  hour.  We 
finally  had  to  abandon  the  pursuit  as  the  pair  disappeared  in  the  distance  rising  and  spouting 


254  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

together.     Scoresby  (1820,  vol.  1,  p.  479)  also  agrees  that  its  speed  does  not  exceed  twelve 
miles  an  hour. 

So  far  as  known  the  Blue  Whale  does  not  leap  out  of  water. 

Longevity. 

The  normal  duration  of  life  is  unknown  for  any  of  the  Cetacea.  Sibbald,  in  his  Phalaino- 
logia  describes  a  Sulphurbottom  cast  ashore  in  1692  in  the  Firth  of  Forth,  Scotland,  which  had 
been  known  to  the  fishermen  thereabout  "for  twenty  years,  in  its  pursuits  after  the  herring, 
and  termed  by  them  Hollie  Pike,  in  consequence  of  the  dorsal  fin  having  been  perforated  by 
a  bullet."  Cuvier  estimated  the  age  attained  by  some  of  the  larger  species  of  Cetacea  at  a 
thousand  years  or  more,  but  this  was  mere  guesswork,  and  the  basis  of  his  estimate  we  now 
know  to  be  quite  inadequate. 

Food. 

The  Blue  Whale  is  not  known  to  feed  on  fish,  but  appears  to  subsist  largely,  if  not  entirely, 
on  minute  crustaceans  which  it  engulfs  in  great  quantities  and  sieves  out  from  the  water  by 
means  of  the  matted  bristles  of  the  whalebone.  The  small  schizopod  Thysanoessa  inermis 
seems  to  form  the  favorite  item  of  diet,  and  the  stomachs  of  those  I  examined  at  Newfound- 
land were  packed  with  these  alone.  Other  observers  have  seen  the  same  thing.  Collett  records 
from  300  to  400  liters  (twelve  bushels  or  more)  of  these  crustaceans  in  stomachs  of  this  whale. 
A  second  species  of  minute  crustacean  —  Temora  longicornis  —  known  to  the  fishermen  as 
'swamps'  --is  also  found  in  the  stomach  of  the  Blue  Whale  on  the  Newfoundland  coast,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  L.  Rissmiiller  (Millais,  1906).  Van  Beneden  considers  that  Holboell  is  undoubt- 
%  edly  mistaken  in  believing  that  capelin  are  eaten  by  the  Blue  Whale,  and  in  this  he  is  probably 
correct. 

Breeding  Habits. 

As  with  other  whales,  very  little  is  definitely  known  of  the  life  of  this  large  species.  Guld- 
berg  says  that  mating  takes  place  in  summer  on  the  coasts  of  Finmark  and  Lapland.  He  speaks 
of  observing  the  act  of  copulation  on  July  15,  1883,  when  a  male  and  a  female  lay  on  their  sides 
at  the  surface,  gently  approached  each  other  and  turned  belly  to  belly.  Gestation  is  supposed 
to  be  about  a  year  in  duration,  and  the  young  are  born  probably  in  the  summer  following  the 
mating.  A  single  young  at  a  birth  is  the  rule  among  Cetacea,  but  Captain  David  Gray,  an 
English  whaler,  is  reported  to  have  seen  a  Blue  Whale  with  two  young  ones  in  north  latitude 
79°  15'.  J.  A.  Harvie-Brown  1  records  a  female  of  sixty  feet,  containing  twin  foetuses,  that  was 

1  Harvie-Brown,  J.  A.     Ann.  Scottish  Nat.  Hist.,  1905,  p.  73. 


BLUE  WHALE.  255 

brought  in  to  Eide  Fjord,  Faroe,  in  June,  1894.  Both  were  males,  four  and  six  feet  long  re- 
spectively. The  young  at  birth  is  about  twenty  feet  long.  Turner  (1870)  records  a  foetus  of 
nineteen  feet  in  the  78-foot  specimen  stranded  at  Longniddry,  Scotland. 


Geographic  Distribution. 

The  Blue  Whale  is  essentially  a  'cold- water'  species,  and  is  found  well  into  the  higher 
latitudes.  Blue  Whales  occur  in  the  South  Atlantic,  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  the  North  and 
South  Pacific,  and  seem  to  avoid  the  tropical  seas.  Various  names  have  been  given  to  those 
inhabiting  these  different  parts  of  the  sea,  but  it  is  still  uncertain  whether  they  are  valid  species 
or  whether,  the  Blue  Whale  is  specifically  the  same  throughout  the  oceans.  We  do  not  yet 
know  the  range  of  individual  variation  nor  whether  the  characters  which  are  supposed  to  dis- 
tinguish the  nominal  species  are  truly  distinctive.  A  recent  writer  has  pointed  out  that  these 
large  slow-breeding  animals  must  of  necessity  become  differentiated  into  local  races  at  a  much 
slower  rate  than  those  which  breed  several  times  a  year  and  of  which  two  or  three  generations 
may  in  the  same  interval  be  produced.  Among  such  quickly  maturing  species  the  chance  of 
variations  arising  and  being  preserved,  is  greatly  increased. 

In  the  North  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  Blue  Whale  is  most  common  to  the  northward  of  the 
Gulf  Stream.  The  specimen  stranded  at  Ocean  City,  New  Jersey,  perhaps  represents  nearly 
the  normal  southward  limit  on  this  side,  though  no  doubt  this  may  become  extended.  Perhaps 
it  will  eventually  be  found  to  follow  the  cooler  inshore  waters  as  far  south  as  the  Carolina  coast, 
as  in  case  of  the  Right  Whale.  In  New  England  waters  it  is  rare,  but  northward  it  becomes 
more  frequent.  Off  Newfoundland,  the  Blue  Whale  is  common  in  summer,  and  in  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence  is  taken  in  numbers  as  far  up  as  Seven  Islands.  Its  seasonal  and  numerical 
abundance  vary  much  from  year  to  year.  Millais  (1906)  quotes  Captain  Nilson,  who  has  had 
much  experience  in  hunting  these  whales  in  the  Newfoundland  waters,  as  believing  that  they 
winter  scattered  about  on  the  Grand  Banks.  On  March  1,  1903,  he  saw  over  two  hundred 
at  intervals  between  Banquereau  and  St.  Pierre  Bank.  In  March  is  the  best  season  for  the 
fishing  on  the  south  coast  of  Newfoundland,  and  in  May,  when  the  ice  goes  out  from  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  they  enter  those  waters,  though  many  still  remain  off  the  St.  Pierre  Bank 
and  as  far  east  as  Cape  St.  Mary.  By  the  end  of  June  they  largely  disappear,  and  give  place 
to  the  main  body  of  the  Finbacks.  From  the  end  of  June  to  mid- August  they  follow  the  '  kril ' 
(the  small  crustaceans  —  Thysanoessa)  out  to  the  south  but  a  few  come  in  again  by  late  August 
and  stay  'on  the  coast'  till  November  in  small  numbers.  Captain  Nilson  believes  they  are 
not  far  from  the  south  coast  of  Newfoundland  all  the  year  round.  Northward  they  are  found 
at  least  as  far  as  Davis  Straits,  the  coasts  of  southern  Greenland,  and  probably  into  Baffin's 
Bay,  but  apparently  do  not  pass  through  Hudson  Strait  into  Hudson  Bay.  According  to 


256  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Scoresby,  the  Blue  Whale  follows  the  open  water  to  the  edge  of  the  ice  floes  northeast  of  Green- 
land, as  far  as  Cherie  Island,  Nova  Zembla,  and  Jan  Mayen,  yet  "it  is  seldom  seen  among 
much  ice "  in  contrast  to  the  Bowhead.  "It  inhabits  most  generally  in  the  Spitzbergen  quarter, 
the  parallels  of  70  to  76  degrees;  but  in  the  months  of  June,  July,  and  August,  when  the  sea  is 
usually  open,  it  advances  along  the  land  to  the  northward  as  high  as  the  80th  degree  of  latitude" 
(Scoresby,  1820,  vol.  1,  p.  482).  On  the  European  coasts  it  is  found  as  far  south  at  least  as 
the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Some  numbers  have  lately  been  captured  by  whaling  crews  operating  on 
the  Irish  coast,  and  sundry  individuals  have  from  time  to  time  come  on  shore  in  the  North  Sea. 

Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters. 

Within  the  limits  of  New  England,  the  Blue  Whale  is  apparently  rare.  I  know  of  no 
positive  record  for  it  in  our  waters,  yet  it  undoubtedly  does  occur.  G.  B.  Goode l  has  recorded 
as  this  species  a  skeleton  obtained  by  Professor  Baird  at  Nantucket  in  1875  —  No.  16039  in 
the  collection  of  the  U.  S.  National  Museum.  The  specimen  in  question,  however,  is  a  Common 
Finback  (fide  True,  1904).  Captain  N.  E.  Atwood  of  Provincetown,  who  supplied  the  notes 
on  Cetacea  for  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen's  (1869)  list  of  the  mammals  of  Massachusetts,  had  no  personal 
knowledge  of  it  on  the  Massachusetts  coast,  but  declared  that  it  was  said  to  occur.  The  fol- 
lowing instances  probably  relate  to  this  whale  in  New  England  and  comprise  all  the  evi- 
dence of  its  presence  in  our  waters  that  I  have  found.  Of  themselves  they  constitute  most 
slender  evidence  for  admitting  the  species  to  the  list  of  New  England  mammals.  It  should 
probably  be  regarded  as  an  occasional  visitor  from  more  northern  waters,  but  we  are  still 
almost  wholly  ignorant  of  its  true  status. 

1756. —  A  whale,  which  from  its  length,  seventy-five  feet,  was  probably  a  Sulphurbottom, 
is  recorded  as  having  been  landed  on  King's  Beach,  Lynn,  Mass.,  on  the  9th  of  December. 
"Dr.  Henry  Burchsted  rode  into  its  mouth,  in  a  chaise  drawn  by  a  horse;  and  afterwards  had 
two  of  his  bones  set  up  for  gate  posts  at  his  house  in  Essex  Street,  where  they  stood  for  more 
than  fifty  years."2  "Opposite  the  doctor's  house,  the  cot  of  Moll  Pitcher,  the  celebrated 
fortune-teller,  stood.  And  many  were  the  sly  inquiries  from  strangers  for  the  place  where  the 
big  whale-bones  were  to  be  seen." 

1874. —  About  the  middle  of  October,  a  number  of  whales  (mainly  Finbacks)  appeared 
off  the  south  coast  of  Massachusetts.  One  was  shot  and  killed  with  a  bomb-lance  off 
Canapitset  that  was  said  to  have  been  a  Sulphurbottom,  though  no  details  are  given  (see 
Forest  and  Stream,  Oct.  29,  1874,  vol.  3,  p.  188). 

1904. —  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  85,  no.  19,  Nov.  5,  1904)  reports  that 

1  Good*,  G.  B.     Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1884,  sect.  1,  p.  27. 

2  Lewis,  A.,  and  Newhall,  J.  R.     History  of  Lynn,  1865,  p.  330, 


BLUE  WHALE.  257 

a  whale  75  feet  long  was  washed  ashore  dead,  at  Popham  Beach,  Maine,  about  the  first  of 
November.     If  the  measurement  is  correct,  it  indicates  a  Sulphurbottom. 

1912. —  Dr.  Henry  B.  Bigelow  furnishes  me  a  note  of  a  large  whale  seen  by  him  about  5i 
miles  SE.  by  S.  i  S.  from  Cape  Elizabeth,  Maine,  whistle  on  August  7th,  which  from  its  size 
and  its  small  dorsal  fin  as  compared  with  that  of  Common  Finbacks  seen  at  the  same  place, 
was  without  much  doubt  a  Blue  Whale. 

Enemies  and  Parasites. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  enemies  of  the  Blue  Whale  is  practically  nothing.  No  external 
parasites  are  recorded  for  this  species,  but  no  doubt  it  may  lodge  Penellae  at  times.  It  is 
normally  quite  free  of  barnacles. 

Malm  (1867)  described  and  figured  a  new  species  of  parasitic  worm,  Echinorhynchus  brevi- 
collis,  from  the  small  intestine  of  a  Blue  Whale  stranded  on  the  Swedish  coast.  It  is  one  of 
the  so  called  thorn-headed  worms,  that  anchors  itself  to  the  inner  lining  of  the  intestine  by  its 
head  from  which  project  numerous  small  thorn-like  processes.  Its  body  lies  free  in  the  intestine 
and  absorbs  nutriment  from  the  digested  food. 


258  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES 

% 

Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata  LACEPEDE. 
LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE;  LEAST  RORQUAL. 

PLATE  11,  FIG.  4;  PLATE  13,  FIG.  2;  PLATE  14. 

SYNONYMY. 

1780.     Balacna  rostrata  Fabricius,  Fauna  Groenlandica,  p.  40  (not  of  Miiller,  1776). 

1803-4.     Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata  Lacepede,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Cetaces,  vol.  1,  p.  197,  pi.  8;   Thomas,  Zoolo- 
gist, 1898,  ser.  4,  vol.  2,  p.  99;  True,  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  1898,  vol.  21,  p.  634. 
1822.     Balacna  hoops,  Albers,  Icon.  Anat.,  pi.  1  (in  part). 

1828.  Balacna  minimus  borealis  Knox,  Cat.  Prep.  Whale,  p.  14. 

1829.  Balaena  borealis  fy  rostrata  Fischer,  Synopsis  Mammalium,  p.  525. 

1836.  Rorqualus  loops  F.  Cuvier,  Hist.  Nat.  des  Ce"taces,  p.  321,  pi.  20  (in  part). 

1837.  Balacna  minima  Rapp,  Die  Cetaceen  zoologisch-anat.  dargestellt.     Stuttgart  and  Tubingen,  p.  52. 
1837.     Rorqualus  minor  Jardine,  Naturalist's  Library,  Mammalia,  vol.  6,  p.  142,  pi.  7. 

1842.  Rorqualus  rostratus  DeKay,  Zool.  New  York,  Mammalia,  p.  130,  pi.  30,  fig.  1. 

1843.  Balaenoptera  hoops  Newman,  Zoologist,  vol.  1,  p.  33,  fig.  (in  part). 

1845.  Balaenoptera  eschrichtii  Rasch,  Nyt  Mag.  for  Naturvidensk.,  vol.  4,  p.  123. 

1846.  Balaenoptera  rostrata  Gray,  Zool.  Voyage  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  50. 

1846.     Balaenoptera  physalus  Gray,  Zool.  Voy.  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  18  (in  part). 

1849.     Ptcrobalacna  minor  Eschricht,  Unters.  iiber  nord.  Wallthiere,  p.  169. 

1849.     Pterobalaena  minor  groenlandica  and  bergensis  Eschricht,  K.  Dansk.  Vid.  Selsk.  Skrifter,  ser.  5,  vol.  1, 

p.  109. 

1864.     Balaenoptera  minima  Flower,  Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  p.  418. 

1866.     Balaenoptera  microcephala  Gray  (ex  Holboell  MS.),  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Mus.,  ed.  2,  p.  188. 
1866.     Pterobalaena  prostrata  Gray,  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Mus.,  ed.  2,  p.  188  (attributed  to  Van 

Beneden,  1861,  in  error). 

1868.     Agaphclus  gibbosus  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  pp.  159,  224. 
1868.     Balacna  gihbosa  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  p.  159  (in  part). 
1877.     Sibbaldius  mondinii  Capellini,  Mem.  Accad.  Sci.  Bologna,  ser.  3,  vol.  7,  p.  423. 
1898.     Balaenoptera  mondini  Trouessart,  Cat.  Mamm.,  p.  1078  (not  Gervais,  Journal  de  Zool.,  vol.  6,  p.  167). 

History  and  Nomenclature. 

No  doubt  the  Little  Piked  Whale  was  well  known  to  the  Icelandic  and  Norse  fishermen 
long  before  naturalists  became  familiar  with  it.  In  an  ancient  Norse  manuscript  called  the 
Royal  Mirror  (Speculum  regale  or  Konigsspiegel) ,  and  believed  to  have  been  produced  about 
the  year  1280,  mention  is  made  of  sundry  whales  and  large  fish,  which  Guldberg  (1904)  has 
attempted  to  identify.  One  of  these,  the  "Geirhval,"  is  believed  by  one  commentator  to  be 
the  present  species,  but  of  this  there  can  be  no  certainty,  and  Guldberg  does  not  vouchsafe  an 


PLATE  14. 

Little  Piked  Whale  (Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata).     Drawn  by  J.  Henry  Blake  from  the  specimen  taken  at 

Provincetown,  Mass.,  August  14,  1910,  shortly  after  its  capture. 

..* 
Fig.  1.     Side  view,  drawn  to  scale. 

Fig.  2.     Under  side  of  the  flukes,  showing  the  dark  posterior  edging. 

Fig.  3.    The  left  pectoral  nipper  to  show  the  color  of  upper  surface.     At  the  base  the  white  area  is 

sharply  marked  off  but  at  the  outer  part  it  merges  more  gradually  into  the  blackish  tip. 
Fig.  4.     Upper  side  of  the  flukes. 


- 
J 

a. 


uj 


X 

a. 


0) 

d 


oo" 

J 

o 

fe 


.. 


I 


(C 
O 

u 
S 


LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE.  259 

opinion.  Linne  himself  had  no  knowledge  of  it,  nor  was  it  until  1780,  when  Fabricius's  Fauna 
( Irornlandica  appeared,  that  it  was  characterized  under  the  name  of  Balaena  rostrata.  Fabri- 
cins  describes  its  small  size,  whitish  whalebone,  and  even  the  pinkish  tinge  to  the  white  of  the 
belly  and  throat,  but  curiously,  he  makes  no  mention  of  the  very  conspicuous  white  mark  on 
the  pectoral  limb.  But  Fabricius  in  calling  it  Balaena  rostrata  or  beaked  whale,  did  not  know 
that  the  species  to  which  this  name  had  been  applied  by  Muller  in  1776,  was  not  a  whalebone 
whale,  but  a  ziphioid  —  the  Bottle-nosed  Whale  (Hyperoodon) .  In  1787,  the  English  ana- 
tomist Hunter  gave  some  account  of  his  dissection  of  a  Little  Piked  Whale  killed  in  the  North 
Sea,  but  it  was  not  till  1803  that  a  tenable  specific  name  was  given  it  by  Lac6pede  — acuto- 
rostrata,  in  reference  to  its  pointed  head,  of  which,  however,  his  conception,  drawn  from 
descriptions  and  figures,  was  rather  exaggerated.  He  placed  the  species  in  his  genus  Balae- 
noptera,  from  which  it  was  later  removed  by  Fischer  in  1829,  who  in  his  compilation  of  the 
species  of  mammals  then  known,  made  it  with  some  question,  a  variety  of  his  "Balaena 
borealis,"  (Balaena  borealis  f  y  rostrata).  Cuvier  in  1836,  erected  the  genus  Rorqualus,  and 
under  R.  boops  included  this  whale.  In  1837,  Jardine  corrected  this  to  Rorqualus  minor  and 
DeKay,  in  1842,  following  Cuvier's  use  of  the  generic  term,  again  applied  Fabricius's  specific 
name  in  the  combination  Rorqualus  rostratus.  Gray,  in  1846,  used  the  name  in  combination 
with  Lac6pede's  genus  Balaenoptera,  and  he  has  been  followed  by  many  later  writers.  Three 
years  afterward,  Eschricht  included  it  in  his  genus  Pterobalaena,  now  recognized  as  a  synonym 
of  Balaenoptera,  and  revived  "minor"  as  the  specific  name. 

A  specimen  from  Sweden  was  described  in  1845  by  Rasch  under  the  new  name  Balaenop- 
tera eschrichtii,  but  the  characters  claimed  were  not  of  specific  value. 

Still  another  combination,  Balaenoptera  minima,  was  proposed  by  Flower  in  1864,  reviving 
Knox's  Balaena  minima,  a  name  overlooked  by  most  systematists,  as  it  appeared  in  trinomial 
form  in  a  separately  published  paper  in  1828. 

Cope's  apocryphal  species,  Balaena  gibbosa,  or  as  he  in  the  same  paper  proposed  to  call 
it,  Agaphelus  gibbosus,  appears  to  have  been  in  part  at  least,  this  same  species  (see  True,  1904, 
p.  105) .  The  genus  Agaphelus,  however,  seems  to  have  been  founded  on  a  misconception  and 
is  no  longer  recognized. 

In  1877,  Capellini,  an  Italian  naturalist,  published  an  account  of  a  specimen  of  the  Little 
Piked  Whale  stranded  on  the  Italian  coast  of  the  Adriatic,  giving  it  the  new  name  Sibbaldius 
iiicnilinii,  which  Trouessart  has  corrected  to  Balaenoptera  mondini.  This  was  relegated  to 
the  synonymy  a  few  years  later.  Finally  Thomas  and  True,  in  1898,  both  called  formal  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  Balaenoptera  acuto-rostrata  of  Lace"pede  is  the  correct  systematic  name 
for  the  species.  Whether  or  not  the  representatives  of  the  Little  Piked  Whale  in  the  Southern 
and  the  Pacific  Oceans  are  identical  with  the  North  Atlantic  species,  it  is  as  yet  impossible  to 
tell  with  certainty,  though  the  probabilities  are  that  they  are  not  specifically  different.  Until 


260  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

this  can  be  settled  through  a  comparison  of  specimens  these  nominal  species  must  continue 
to  be  recognized,  and  their  synonymy  is  therefore  not  here  included. 

The  type  locality  as  given  by  Lacepede,  is  "aux  environs  de  la  rade  de  Cherbourg,"  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  of  France. 

Vernacular  Names. 

In  the  books,  this  species  is  usually  called  the  Pike-headed  Whale  or  Little  Piked  Whale. 
Under  the  former  name  Pennant  in  his  British  Zoology  included  both  this  and  the  Common 
Finback,  though  he  himself  recognized  that  some  confusion  existed.  The  origin  of  the  name, 
he  says,  "is  from  the  shape  of  its  nose,  which  Dale  observes,  'is  like  that  of  the  Pike  fish.'" 
But  the  term  'pike'  as  used  by  the  Scotch  fisherfolk,  was  applied  to  the  high  and  pointed  dorsal 
fin,  whence  the  name  'piked  whales'  by  which  the  species  of  Balaenoptera  are  sometimes  col- 
lectively designated.  It  seems  originally  to  have  meant  the  sharply  pointed  blade  of  the  foot- 
soldier's  pike  or  heavy  thrusting  spear  of  mediaeval  days.  'Pike-headed'  would  thus  mean 
sharp-headed  like  the  conventional  spear  point.  This  is  the  French  rendering,  and  the  species 
is  usually  called  by  French  writers  'La  Balenoptere  a  museau  pointu.'  The  name  'Little 
Piked  Whale'  on  the  other  hand  means  merely  the  little  whale  with  a  dorsal  fin  or  '  pike.'  Simi- 
larly the  terms  'Little  Finner'  and  'Lesser  Rorqual'  signify  that  it  is  a  smaller  representative 
of  the  Big  Finner  or  Common  Finback  (or  Rorqual).  Since  the  Pollack  Whale  is  also  called 
Lesser  Rorqual  it  is  more  appropriate  that  the  present  species  should  be  designated  as  Least 
Rorqual,  following  True  (1898),  since  it  is  the  smallest  of  living  species  of  this  genus.  Among 
German-speaking  people  it  is  called  Zwergwal,  that  is,  Dwarf  Whale  on  account  of  its  small 
size.  To  the  Danes  and  Norse  it  is  Vaagehval  or  Bay  whale,  because  of  its  habit  of  coming 
close  in  near  the  land  among  the  fiords.  The  Swedish  term  Vikarehval  or  Vikhval  has  the 
same  significance.  Van  Beneden  says  that  the  people  of  Norway  sometimes  speak  of  it 
as  the  Summer  Whale,  as  it  is  more  often  seen,  in  the  northern  part  of  that  country  at  least, 
during  the  warm  season. 

Another  colloquial  term  used  by  the  Norse,  is  Minkie's  Hval  (i.  e.,  Minkie's  Whale). 
Millais  (1906,  p.  279)  gives  the  origin  of  this.  "Minkie  was  a  Norwegian  seaman  who  was 
always  calling  'Hval'  at  whatever  backfin  he  saw.  He  is  now  regarded  as  the  type  of  the 
'  tenderfoot '  at  sea.  Norwegians  often  refer  to  any  small  whale  with  some  contempt  or  amuse- 
ment as  a  'Minkie'  or  'Minkie's  hval.'" 

On  our  own  coasts,  and  in  Newfoundland  and  Labrador  it  is  almost  universally  called 
Grampus  Whale  or  merely  '  Grampus.'  The  latter  term  is  more  properly  applied  to  the  large 
porpoise,  Grampus  griseus,  though  by  fishermen  generally  it  is  used  to  denote  a  cetacean  of 
medium  size,  which,  of  course,  is  more  nearly  its  original  meaning,  since  the  word  is  from  the 
French  '  grand  poisson '  —  big  fish.  Our  New  England  fishermen  are  wont  to  consider  this 
small  whalebone  whale  as  merely  a  'young  Finback'  though  the  more  observant  of  them 


LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE.  261 

sometimes  admit,  on  viewing  a  stranded  specimen,  that  "there  is  something  strange  about 
her  at  that"  (to  a  whaleman  a  whale  is  always  "she"  or  "her"). 

The  Greenland  Eskimos  call  it  'Tikagulik,'  and  curiously,  the  Alaskan  Eskimos  have  a 
nearly  identical  term,  'Tschikagulik'  for  the  representative  of  the  species  in  Bering  Strait 
(van  Beneden,  1887). 

Description. 

Form. —  In  general  the  outline  of  the  body  resembles  that  of  the  Finback,  but  the  posterior 
portion  is  less  attenuated,  and  the  form  is  somewhat  stouter.  The  snout  and  jaws  are  rather 
sharply  pointed,  though  not  excessively  so.  The  dorsal  fin  is  prominent,  high  and  falcate. 
The  caudal  fin  is  like  that  of  the  other  members  of  the  genus. 

The  eye  is  exactly  over  the  angle  of  the  mouth.  From  the  angle  runs  a  groove  or  gutter, 
which  is  continued  a  short  distance  behind  the  eye  and  ends  indefinitely.  The  ear  is  a  small 
opening  the  size  of  a  pin  head  between  the  eye  and  the  pectoral. 

Plicae. —  The  tTiroat  folds  in  a  Provincetown  specimen  I  examined  in  1910,  were,  counting 
from  the  mid-line  to  the  pectoral,  twenty-six,  or  about  fifty-two  from  side  to  side.  Mr.  J.  Henry 
Blake  noted  fifty  in  a  Provincetown  specimen. 

Color. —  A  Provincetown  specimen  which  I  examined  in  a  fairly  fresh  condition,  about 
two  days  after  its  death,  was  a  beautiful  blue  gray  on  the  parts  of  the  back  which  had  not  been 
exposed  to  the  sun.  This  color  covered  the  sides  and  entire  upper  parts,  and  extended  forward 
on  to  the  border  of  the  lower  lip  and  below  the  pectoral  as  far  as  the  fifth  plication.  The  entire 
throat  and  the  belly  below  these  points  were  ivory  white  over  an  area  that  narrowed  towards 
the  tail  but  included  the  ventral  part  of  the  caudal  peduncle  or  '  small '  and  all  but  the  posterior 
fourth  of  the  under  side  of  the  flukes.  Here  the  color  changed  to  grayish  and  then  black, 
forming  a  dark  border  to  this  member.  In  life  the  white  ventral  area  has  a  distinct  pinkish 
tinge,  but  this  is  evanescent,  and  quickly  disappears  after  death.  It  is  represented  in  Bocourt's 
figure  (Gervais,  1871,  pi.  3)  of  a  specimen  stranded  on  the  French  coast.  A  very  characteristic 
marking  of  this  whale  is  the  broad  white  band  across  the  pectoral  limb.  In  the  specimen  here 
described,  the  base  of  the  pectoral  was  colored  dark  blue  gray  like  the  back,  but  at  a  distance 
of  50  millimeters  from  the  body,  this  color  ended  abruptly  with  a  sharply  defined  limit,  and 
gave  place  to  a  clear  white  band  across  the  entire  breadth  of  the  limb.  This  band  extended 
on  the  upper  surface  for  some  260  millimeters,  then  became  clouded  and  shaded  into  the  black- 
ish tip,  which  therefore  comprised  nearly  the  terminal  half  of  the  pectoral.  The  under  surface 
of  the  limb  hardly  differed  in  pattern  and  color.  Turner  (1892,  p.  49)  records  that  in  a 
specimen  from  Granton,  British  Isles,  there  were  black  blotches  on  the  white  area  of  the  limb, 
but  this  is  unusual  apparently.  The  tongue  is  light  yellow. 

Hair. —  The  number  of  bristles  on  the  snout  appears  to  be  greatly  reduced  in  this  whale 


2(12 


ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


over  the  number  occurring  in  the  larger  species  of  the  genus.  Japha  (1911)  has  described  and 
figured  their  arrangement  as  found  in  a  foetus  some  700  mm.  long.  There  is  but  a  single  row 
on  each  side  of  the  snout,  and  this  seems  to  correspond  to  the  inner  of  the  two  rows  in  the 
Common  Finback  and  the  Blue  Whale.  These  two  rows  comprise  five  bristles  each,  arranged 
on  a  slightly  S-shaped  line,  the  posteriormost  bristle  about  on  a  level  with  the  middle  of  the 
blowholes,  and  set  in  nearer  them  than  the  bristle  next  in  front.  In  a  somewhat  smaller  foetus 
Japha  found  but  four  on  each  side,  and  this  agrees  with  the  count  in  a  specimen  examined  by 
van  Beneden  (1887).  On  the  lower  jaw  the  arrangement  is  similar  to  that  in  the  larger 
Balaenopterae.  There  are  two  vertical  rows,  parallel  to  each  other,  at  the  point  of  the  jaw 
but  the  actual  number  of  hairs  in  each  row  he  does  not  mention,  though  to  judge  from  his 
figure,  there  are  six  in  each.  The  true  number  is  doubtless  more  for  Knox  (1833-4)  found  eight 
distinct  bristles  in  each  of  the  two  perpendicular  rows  of  a  young  specimen.  In  addition,  Japha 
mentions  other  smaller  scattered  hairs  at  the  symphysis,  making  in  all  some  thirty  at  the  tip 
of  the  jaw.  The  lateral  row  on  the  side  of  each  lower  lip  consists  of  six  or  seven  bristles.  The 
vibrissal  hairs  thus  total  about  38  or  39. 

External  Measurements  of 


i 

Provincetown,  Mass. 

2 
Provincetown,  Mass. 

Tip  of  snout  to  notch  of  flukes 
"     "       "       "  angle  of  mouth 
"       "  anterior  corner  of  eye 
"  posterior  margin  of  blowholes 
"     "       "       "  anterior         "       " 
Eye  to  anterior  insertion  of  pectoral 
Length  of  eye  opening 
Length  of  pectoral  fin  from  anterior  insertion  to  tip 
Greatest  width  of  pectoral 
Width  of  insertion  of  pectoral 
Length  of  base  of  dorsal  fin 
"  anterior  edge  of  dorsal  fin 
Greatest  height  posteriorly  of  dorsal  fin 
Posterior  base  of  dorsal  fin  to  notch  of  flukes 
Anus  to  notch  of  flukes  ventrally 
Anus  to  navel 
Length  of  mammary  slit 
Width  from  tip  to  tip  of  flukes 
Width  from  tip  of  fluke  to  median  notch 
Anterior  edge  of  fluke  from  insertion  to  tip 
Tip  of  snout  to  pectoral 
"     "       "       "  base  of  dorsal  fin 
Eye  to  ear  opening 
Greatest  girth 

Ft.       In. 
14      5| 

Meters 

4.41 

% 
100 

Ft.      In. 

14      6 

Meters 

4.42 

% 
100 

2      9 

0.84 

19.04 

2    4 

0.71 

16.08 

2    4 
1     9 

0.71 
0.53 

16.13 
12.10 

1     9 
0    2| 
2    4 
0    7 
0  10 
0  11 

0.53 
0.07 
0.71 
0.17 
0.25 
0.28 

12.06 
0.01 
16.08 
4.02 
5.72 
6.32 

2    0 
0    <»i 
0  11 

0.61 
0.16 
0.28 

13.77 
3.72 
6.34 

0    5f 

0.14 

3.17 

0    7 

0.17 

4.02 

3     7 

1.09 

24.71 

4    2 

1.27 

28.73 

2    0 
4    7 

0.61 
1.40 

13.60 
31.40 

0    9i 

7    3 

0.23 

2.21 

5.31 
50 

LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE. 


263 


In  an  adult  whale  28  feet  long,  Turner  (1892,  p.  48)  was  unable  to  discover  any  hairs 
on  either  upper  or  lower  jaw,  so  that  it  may  be  they  drop  out  or  wear  down  with  age. 

Baleen. —  The  whalebone  plates  of  the  external  rank  numbered  about  316  on  each  side  in 
a  Provincetown  specimen  I  examined  in  1910.  Collett  (1886)  gives  the  number  as  about  325. 
In  color  they  are  usually  described  as  entirely  yellowish  white,  but  in  the  above  specimen  there 
was  a  basal  band  of  a  purplish  tinge  due  to  a  veining  of  that  color,  and  this  was  most  conspicuous 
in  an  area  about  15  mm.  broad  and  the  same  distance  from  the  base  of  each  plate.  The  longest 
plate  of  baleen  in  the  15-foot  whale  was  about  108  mm.,  (4  inches)  but  in  an  adult  whale  the 
largest  are  about  200  mm.  (8  inches)  on  the  exterior  edge,  not  including  the  frayed  bristles. 

External  Measurements. — The  following  table  gives  the  comparative  dimensions  of  five  New 
England  specimens,  all  of  which,  however,  are  immature.  I  have  therefore  added  the  dimensions 
of  an  adult  specimen  taken  at  Granton,  Scotland,  as  recorded  by  Turner  (1892) .  The  percentage 
that  each  dimension  bears  to  the  total  length  of  the  specimen  is  given  in  the  third  column  for 
each  individual.  In  this  table,  Nos.  1,  2,  and  5  were  measured  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Blake,  No.  3  by 
myself,  and  No.  4  by  J.  P.  Thompson  (the  last  reproduced  from  True's  monograph  of  1904.) 

llalaenoptera  acuto-rostrata. 


3 
South  Tmr.i.  Mass. 

4 
Portland,  Me. 

5 
Provincetown,  Mass. 

G 
Granton,  Scotland 

Ft.        In. 

15    3ft 
2    9£ 
2    9£ 
2    5 

Meters 

3.755 
0.850 
0.850 
0.760 

% 
100 
22.6 
22.6 
20.2 

Ft.      In. 
15      4 

2    8 

Meters 

4.67 
0.82 

% 
100 
17.39 

Ft.     In. 

16    7 

Meters 
5.05 

% 
100 

Ft.      In. 
27    10| 

5      * 
3    9 

4    4 
1     1 

1     7 

1    0 

7    0 
7    2 

7    4 

18    2 
1    3 

Meters 

8.75 
1.54 

1.14 

1.32 
0.33 

0.48 

0.30 
2.13 
2.18 

2.23 

5.54 
0.38 

% 
100 

18.08 
13.45 

15.54 
3.88 

5.68 

3.58 
25.11 
25.71 

26.30 

65.17 
4.48 

3    2 
2    8 
2    2 
1  11 
0    2i 
2    4 
0    7i 
1     0 

0.97 
0.81 
0.66 
0.58 
0.05 
0.71 
0.19 
0.30 

19.09 
16.08 
13.06 
11.55 
1.06 
14.08 
3.76 
6.03 

2    6 

0.76 

16.30 

1  Hi 
0     If 
2    3f 
0     6.7 
0    9.45 
1     0.3 
0  11A 
0    7.5 
4    7-J 
4    0 
3     li 
0    3£ 
4    0^5 
2     1 
2    3i 

0.590 
0.045 
0.705 
0.170 
0.240 
0.310 
0.280 
0.190 
1.400 
1.200 
0.950 
0.082 
1.230 
0.635 
0.690 

15.6 
1.2 
18.7 
4.5 
6.3 
8.2 
7.4 
5.0 
37.2 
31.9 
25.3 
2.1 
32.7 
16.9 
18.3 

2    2 

0    7 

0.66 
0.18 

14.12 
3.80 

1     0 

8± 
5    4 
4    3 

4    2 

0.30 
0.20 
1.63 
1.30 

1.27 

6.52 
4.34 
34.78 
27.71 

27.17 

0    9 

0.23 

4.57 

4    0 
2    0 

4  11 
11     0 

1.22 
0.61 

1.50 
3.35 

24.12 
12.06 

29.64 
66.33 

9±  0 

2.74 

58.69 

264 


ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Musculature. —  The  muscular  anatomy  of  this  whale  has  been  carefully  described  by  Carte 
and  Macalister  (1868).  The  simplicity  of  structure  is  rather  striking,  yet  amply  serves  the 
animal's  need.  Owing  to  the  loss  of  the  posterior  limbs  there  are  no  hind-leg  muscles,  while 
those  of  the  fore  limb  are  much  reduced  in  number.  No  mention  is  made  by  these  authors 
of  the  great  panniculus,  which  in  the  Finback  and  the  Blue  Whale  is  so  prominent.  No 
doubt,  however,  this  is  present,  and,  as  in  the  two  species  just  mentioned,  serves  to  contract 
the  throat  folds.  The  other  chief  muscles  of  the  body  I  have  tabulated  below,  giving  for  each 
its  name,  its  origin,  and  its  place  of  insertion  as  described  by  the  above  authors. 


Muscles  of  Head, 
a.  Muscles  opening  and  closing  nostrils. 


Name. 
Dilator  naris 

Retractor  alae  nasi 
Constrictor  naris 
Depressor  alae  nasi 


Mylohyoid 
Digastric 
Temporalis 
Masseter 

Pterygoideus  externus 
Pterygoideus  internus 


Origin. 
Upper  border  of  maxillary  from  tip  to 

malar 
Antero-external  portion  of  frontal 

Anterior  edge  of  temporal  fossa 

Intermaxillary  and  median  raphe  of 
snout 

b.     Muscles  of  the  jaws. 
Lower  border  of  jaw  to  its  angle 

Mastoid  process  of  squamosal  and  sul- 

cus  behind 
Entire  temporal  fossa  from  orbit  to 

glenoid 
(1)  Lower  border  of  orbit;   (2)  margin 

of  glenoid 

Outer  surface  of  pterygoid  plate 
Wanting 


Insertion. 


Outer  lip  of  nares  and  median  raphe  of 

snout 
Cartilaginous  lateral  and  posterior  lip  of 

nares 
Outer  lip  of  nares  and  median  raphe  of 

snout 
Outer  border  of  nares 


Two   muscles    of   opposite   sides   join 

medially 
Lower  posterior  surface  of  angle  of  jaw 

By  tendon  into  coronoid  process  of  jaw 

(1)  Posterior  part  of  angle  of  jaw;    (2) 

in  front  of  angle 

Inner  border  of  lower  jaw  near  angle 
Wanting 


Genioglossus 

Lingualis 
Hyoglossus 
Palatoglossus 
Styloglossus 


c.     Muscles  of  the  tongue. 
Inner  border  of  apex  of  jaw 

Longitudinal  and  transverse  fibers 
Great  cornu  of  hyoid  bone 
Median  line  of  soft  palate 
Outer  base  of  styloid  corner  of  hyoid 
bone 


Deep   surface   of   mucous   membrane, 

center  of  tongue 
Forming  the  mass  of  the  tongue 
Center  length  of  side  of  tongue 
Upper  surface  of  tongue 
Posterior  half  of  side  of  tongue 


LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE. 


265 


Name. 
Mastohumeral 

Ixmgus  c«lli 


Tracheloroastoid 


Muscles  of  the  Neck. 

Origin. 
Transverse  processes  of  anterior  cervi- 

cals  and  paramastoid  process 
3  heads:  (1)  ventral  surface  of  cervi- 
cals  3-7  and  dorsals  1,2; 

(2)  outer  part  of  first  rib; 

(3)  posterior  part  of  3  first 
ribs 

2  heads:  (1)  transverse   process  of 

first  dorsal 

(2)  centra  of  posterior  3  or 
4  cervicals 


Insertion. 

Tendinous,     anterior    inner    part    of 
humerus 

Basilar  process  of  occipital  bone  and 
transverse  processes  of  anterior  cervi- 
cals 


Mastoid  process  of  squamosal 


Pectoralis  major 

Pectoralis  minor 
Latissimus  dorsi 

Rhomboideus 
Serratus  magnus 


Levator  anguli  scapulae 

Intercostales 
Omohyoid 

Scalenus  anticus 
Stcrnoinastoid 


SiiTnohyoid 
Sternothvroid 


Muscles  of  the.   Trunk, 
a.     Muscles  of  thorax. 

Under  side  of  sternum  and  five  first 

sternal  ribs 
Lacking 
Spines  of  all  dorsals  and  few  anterior 

lumbar  vertebrae 
Same,  by  this  aponeurosis 

(1)  8  posterior  ribs  and  aponeurosis  of 
abdomen; 

(2)  a  flat  slip  from  second  rib 
Pyramidal,  from  transverse  process  of 

7th  cervical 

20  on  each  side  in  two  sets;  (l)external; 
Coracoid  process  and  anterior  edge  of 

scapula 
Sternal  end  of  first  rib 

(1)  mid-line  of  sternum,  and  ends   ] 
of  ribs  1  and  2 

(2)  external  part  of  first  rib 
Upper  border  of  sternum 
Wanting 


Tendinous,  front  of  humerus  head 

Lacking 

Inner  lower  edge  of  humerus 

Posterior  edge  of  scapula 

Posterior  edge  of  scapula,  just  above 

angle 
Same 
Cervical  angle  of  scapula 

(2)  internal,  connecting  ribs 
Posterior  cornu  of  hyoid  bone 

Transverse  processes  of  anterior  cervi- 
cals 

By   tendon    into    mastoid   process    of 
squamosal 

Lower  edge  of  body  of  hyoid  bone 
Wanting 


b.     Muscles  of  abdomen  and  tail. 


OMiquua  externus 
Obliquus  internus 

Transversalis  abdominis 
Rectus  abdominis 


By  slips  from  8  last  ribs 
Tendinous  from  lumbar  fascia 

Fleshy  from  lumbar  fascia  to  10th  rib 
Tendinous  from  3  or  4  anterior  chevron 
bones 


By  a  large  tendinous  sheet  into  linea 

alba 
Linea  alba  and  cartilaginous  ends  of 

8  or  9  last  ribs 
Tendinous  into  linea  alba 
By  tendinous  expansion  into  2d  to  Gth 

ribs 


266 


ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Name. 
Longissimus  dorsi 

Sacrolumbalis  and  'splenius 

capitis 
Levator    caudae 

Depressor  caudae  major 
Depressor  caudae  minor 


Origin. 
Tendinous  from  neural  arches  of  cau- 

dals  to  tip  of  tail 
Same  origin,  external  to  last,  small 

Upper  surface  of  transverse  processes 

of  lumbars  and  anterior  caudals 
Lower  surface  of  transverse  processes 

and  centra  of  all  lumbars  and  caudals 

and  chevron  bones 
Below  and  external  to  last,  from  lower 

surfaces  of  caudals 


Insertion. 
External  ridge  of  occipital  bone 

Posterior  portion  of  mastoid  process 

By  8  tendons  into  sides  of  last  caudals 

and  flukes 
Lower   surfaces    and    sides   of    caudal 

vertebrae  and  flukes 


Posteriormost  caudals  and  flukes 


Deltoid 
Teres  major 

Supraspinatus 

Infraspinatus 
Subscapularis 
Coracobrachialis 

Flexors  of  forearm  lacking 
Triceps 


Extensor    digitorum     coin- 
mums 
Flexor  carpi  radialis 

Flexor  digitorum  communis 
Palmaris  longus 
Flexor  carpi  ulnaris 


Shoulder  and  Limb  Muscles. 

Upper  outer  half  of  scapula 
Lower  border  of  scapula 

Acromion    and    vertebral    border    of 

scapula  under  deltoid 
Lower  half  of  top  of  scapula 
Entire  inner  surface  of  scapula 
Apex  and  front  of  coracoid  process 


Three  heads:  (1)  inner  neck  of  scapula 

(2)  middle  of  upper  and  posterior  edge 
of  humerus 

(3)  posterior  edge  of  humerus  below 
head 

Heads  of  radius  and  ulna,  and  inter- 
osseous  space 
Anterior   surface   of   humeral   end   of 

radius 

Olecranon  and  inner  edge  of  humerus 
Delicate,  from  cartilaginous  olecranon 
Strongest,  inner  surface  of  olecranon 


By  tendon  into  head  of  humerus 
Anterior  and  inner  surface  of  neck  of 

humerus 
Ridge  on  outer  side  of  humerus  head 

Upper  outer  part  of  humerus  head 
Tendinous,  into  front  of  humerus  head 
Anterior  and   inner  part   of  humerus 
head 

End  of  cartilaginous  olecranon 
Just  anterior  to  (1) 

Anteriormost     part     of     cartilaginous 

olecranon 
By  4  tendons,  1  to  each  digit 

By  tendon  into  base  of  metacarpal  1 

By  4  tendons,  one  to  each  digit 
Metacarpal  of  digit  4  and  palmar  fascia 
Inner  side  of  metacarpal  4 


Four  sets  of  muscles  operate  to  open  and  close  the  nostrils.  Of  these  the  most  superficial 
(dilator  nans)  extends  along  the  whole  side  of  the  snout  and  by  its  contraction  pulls  the  nostril 
open.  A  deeper  muscle  draws  it  together  again.  The  jaw  muscles  are  poorly  developed  in 
comparison  with  those  of  a  carnivorous  land  mammal,  but  suffice  to  open  and  close  the  great 
mouth.  The  broad  mylohyoid  serves  by  its  expansion  and  contraction  to  extend  and  com- 
press the  bag-like  throat  so  that  large  quantities  of  water  containing  the  whale's  food  are  en- 
gulfed within  the  mouth,  when  by  the  contraction  of  the  bag,  and  the  raising  of  the  tongue, 
the  water  is  expelled  along  the  great  gutters  at  the  corners  of  the  mouth,  leaving  the  food 
against  the  tongue  and  the  sieve  of  frayed  bristles  of  the  whalebone.  The  most  notable  of  the 


LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE.  267 

body  muscles  are  the  enormous  masses  that  raise  or  lower  the  tail,  and  serve  to  propel  the 
animal.  Their  great  proportionate  size  would  be  apparent  if  we  were  to  conceive,  for  example, 
of  a  dog  with  a  tail  as  thick  as  its  body  instead  of  the  usual  slender  tapering  tail.  As  the  old 
college  song  put  it,  "the  tail  would  waggle  the  dog,"  and  so  it  actually  is  with  the  whale,  for 
the  enormous  caudal  muscles  with  their  powerful  sinews,  drive  the  huge  body  through  the  water. 
The  propelling  motion  is  an  up-and-down  rather  than  a  sidewise  movement  as  in  case  of  fishes. 
The  muscles  of  the  fore  limb  are  greatly  reduced  and  consist  chiefly  of  shoulder  muscles  which 
insert  upon  the  fore  arm  and  humerus  and  serve  to  move  the  paddle  or  pectoral  limb.  The 
shifting  of  the  acromion  and  the  scapular  ridge  to  the  front  edge  of  the  shoulder  blade  has 
decreased  the  extent  of  the  supraspinatus.  But  this  is  in  part  compensated  by  the  size  of  the 
acromion  and  coracoid  process.  In  the  marsupials  a  shift  of  the  scapular  ridge  to  the  anterior 
edge  of  the  shoulder  blade  has  resulted  in  a  sort  of  rotation  of  the  supraspinal  muscles  to  the 
inner  side  of  the  scapula,  but  in  Cetacea  the  subscapularis  occupies  the  whole  inner  face  of  that 
bone.  No  doubt  this  arrangement  in  the  whales  facilitates  the  forward  motion  of  the  flipper, 
which,  when  at  rest,  is  directed  posteriorly.  The  extremely  poor  development  of  the  hand 
muscles  is  a  result  of  their  loss  of  function  except  as  an  aid  in  stiffening  the  paddle. 

Visceral  Anatomy. — In  their  work  on  the  anatomy  of  this  whale,  Carte  and  Macalister  (1868) 
describe  the  mucous  membrane  lining  the  mouth  as  thrown  into  longitudinal  folds  at  the  inner 
side  of  the  lower  lip,  as  a  sort  of  continuation  of  the  throat  folds,  and  so  adding  to  the  expansibil- 
ity of  the  great  throat  pouch.  The  upper  jaw  is  shorter  than  the  lower  and  fits  into  it  when  the 
mouth  is  closed.  In  feeding,  the  throat  folds  expand  to  engulf  a  great  quantity  of  water  with 
the  living  food,  when  by  closing  the  mouth  and  contracting  the  throat  folds,  the  water  is  expressed 
through  the  plates  of  baleen,  and  the  food  is  retained  by  the  thickly  matted  fibers  of  their  inner 
edges,  whence  by  the  action  of  the  tongue  it  passes  into  the  gullet.  No  trace  of  salivary  ducts 
or  functional  salivary  glands  could  be  ascertained,  though  the  above  authors  discovered  among 
the  muscles  of  the  jaw  a  small  glandular  mass  which  may  have  represented  the  vestiges  of 
salivary  glands.  Owing  to  the  nature  of  the  whale's  food  and  its  manner  of  feeding,  such 
structures  are  doubtless  not  needed.  The  tongue  is  fixed  to  the  floor  of  the  mouth  and  as  seen 
casually  in  a  dead  specimen  hauled  out  on  shore,  is  hardly  distinct  from  the  general  mass  of  the 
throat  muscles.  It  shows  on  close  inspection  both  filiform  and  fungiform  papillae,  the  latter 
particularly  at  the  sides.  At  the  back  of  the  mouth  a  curious  hood-like  fold  of  mucous  mem- 
brane is  present,  the  cavity  of  which  is  directed  backward.  During  the  act  of  swallowing,  this 
hood  completely  closes  over  the  opening  of  the  air  passage  to  the  lungs,  and  so  effectually 
excludes  water  from  them  and  prevents  the  escape  of  air  as  well.  The  diameter  of  the  gullet 
in  the  14-foot  whale  dissected  by  these  two  anatomists  was  hardly  more  than  one  and  a  half 
inches,  and  its  length  was  some  eighteen  inches.  Its  lining  is  thrown  into  low  ridges  running 
lengthwise  which  give  it  some  power  of  distention.  Five  distinct  stomach  chambers  are 


268  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

described  by  Carte  and  Macalister.  The  first  is  somewhat  oblong  in  shape,  with  a  strong 
and  firm  wall,  whose  inner  side  is  covered  with  transverse  rugae,  running  from  right  to  left, 
with  smaller  secondary  ridges.  This  communicates  by  a  narrow  aperture  with  the  second 
cavity  which  is  largest  of  all,  with  thinner  and  more  prominent  rugae  on  its  inner  surface. 
The  third  cavity  is  the  smallest  of  all,  and  opens  into  the  fourth  through  a  curious  valvular 
aperture.  The  fourth  division  of  the  stomach  is  somewhat  pear-shaped,  and  its  lining  smooth, 
while  the  fifth  is  slightly  smaller,  with  glandular  walls,  and  communicates  with  the  duodenum 
by  a  small  pylorus  guarded  by  a  sphincter  muscle.  Turner  (1892)  corroborates  Carte  and 
Macalister's  description  of  the  stomach  as  consisting  of  five  separate  compartments  of  which 
the  first  and  second  are  the  largest  and  subequal,  the  third  very  small,  the  fourth  and  fifth 
together  about  the  size  of  the  first.  The  third  compartment  is  hardly  apparent  from  the  ex- 
terior. Turner  concludes  that  the  first  large  compartment  is  a  large  paunch,  or  enlargement 
of  the  oesophagus,  serving  as  a  sort  of  receptacle  for  the  masses  of  food  taken  in;  the  second 
compartment,  as  those  succeeding  it,  are  lined  with  reticulated  mucous  membrane,  so  that 
they  are  the  true  digestive  parts  of  the  organ.  The  hepatic  and  pancreatic  ducts  unite  at 
about  half  an  inch  before  entering  the  peritoneal  covering  of  the  intestine,  after  which  the 
conjoined  duct  runs  obliquely  some  two  inches  between  the  coats  of  the  intestine  before  opening 
under  a  little  hood-like  fold  of  mucous  membrane  about  6.5  inches  below  the  pylorus.  The 
small  intestine  measured  about  81  feet  in  the  14-foot  specimen,  or  about  5.8  times  the  length 
of  the  animal,  and  so  longer  in  proportion  than  in  the  Finback.  Peyer's  glands  were  present 
both  solitary  and  in  scattered  patches  all  through  the  ilium.  A  caecum  about  8  inches  long  is 
described  by  Carte  and  Macalister,  lying  on  the  right  side  of  the  body.  The  large  intestine 
was  3  feet  8  inches  long. 

The  liver  is  divided  above  into  a  smaller  right  and  a  larger  left  portion.  In  ventral  aspect 
the  middle  or  Spigelian  lobe  of  the  liver  appears.  There  is  no  gall  bladder.  The  spleen  is  very 
small. 

Skeleton.  —  The  most  noticeable  differences  shown  by  the  skull,  as  compared  with  that  of 
the  Common  Finback  are  the  following.  The  rostrum  or  that  portion  in  front  of  the  small 
nasal  bones  is  relatively  very  short  and  broad  at  base.  Its  sides  are  nearly  straight,  and  they 
converge  rapidly  to  a  sharp  peak.  The  nasal  opening  is  wide,  and  the  nasals  are  of  character- 
istic shape  —  blunt  and  squarely  truncate  at  the  anterior  free  edge,  narrowing  regularly  behind. 
The  hinder  margin  of  the  broad  frontal  bone  slopes  to  the  rear  instead  of  forward  as  in  the 
Common  Finback. 

No  adult  skulls  from  the  western  Atlantic  are  available  for  measurement.  True  (1904) 
gives  percentages  of  the  lengths  of  sundry  parts  referred  to  its  total  length,  for  a  Massachu- 
setts skull,  but  other  than  this  there  are  no  published  measurements  of  New  England  speci- 
mens. I  have  therefore  appended  a  table  giving  various  measurements  of  five  New  England 


L11TLE  PIKED  WHALE.  269 

skulls  of  various  ages  all,  however,  immature  (and  unfortunately  for  the  most  part  imperfect). 
In  addition  I  have  reduced  these  to  percentages  of  greatest  breadth  of  the  respective  skulls.  The 
corresponding  dimensions  of  a  fine  adult  skull  from  Norway  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative 
Zoology  complete  the  series,  and  show  the  difference  in  proportions  between  immature  and 
adult  skulls. 

The  table  brings  out  rather  strikingly:  (1)  the  relatively  slight  variation  of  the  different 
general  proportions  in  skulls  of  nearly  the  same  size;  (2)  the  considerable  differences  in  the 
same  proportions  when  immature  and  adult  skulls  are  compared.  The  great  constancy  in 
the  size  of  the  tympanic  bone,  which  in  five  skulls  is  of  very  nearly  the  same  length,  indicates 
that  it  attains  its  full  size  at  an  early  age,  and  does  not  continue  to  grow  with  the  rest  of  the 
skull.  Since  this  very  hard  and  loosely  attached  bone  is  often  the  only  part  of  a  whale  skeleton 
preserved  in  fossiliferous  deposits,  it  is  obvious  that  its  constancy  in  size  and  shape  make  it 
of  much  value  in  determining  the  species  to  which  it  belonged. 

Vertebrae. —  The  vertebral  column  shows  much  reduction  over  that  in  the  other  species 
of  the  genus.  The  rib-bearing  vertebrae  are  eleven,  the  lumbars  twelve  or  thirteen,  and  the 
caudals  from  seventeen  to  twenty  —  a  total  varying  from  46  to  50  if  all  the  published  formulae 
are  to  be  regarded  as  correct.  The  usual  formula  is:  C  7,  D  11,  L  12,  Ca  18  =*  48;  this  is  the 
count  in  the  Massachusetts  skeleton  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum.  It  is  possible  however, 
that  one  or  two  of  the  terminal  caudals  are  often  lost.  A  skeleton  from  Truro,  Mass.,  now  in 
the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  has  the  following  formula:  C  7,  D  11,  L  12,  Ca  20  =  50. 
The  caudal  vertebrae  were  very  carefully  dissected  out  by  myself,  and  there  is  no  question  that 
this  was  the  correct  number  for  this  individual.  The  only  other  case  in  which  this  number 
is  recorded  is  that  given  by  Sir  William  Turner  for  a  Scotch  specimen,  viz.,  C  7,  D  11,  L  13, 
Cal9  =  50.  Fifty  is  no  doubt  the  maximum  number. 

In  marked  contrast  to  the  Common  Finback  the  upper  and  lower  transverse  processes 
on  each  side  of  the  third  to  fifth  cervicals  usually  are  not  united  at  their  outer  extremities  to 
enclose  a  vertebrarterial  canal,  but  instead,  those  of  the  axis  only  are  so  united  forming  a  closed 
ring.  This  is  the  condition  in  a  skeleton  (no.  7980)  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology 
from  Cape  Cod  and  in  a  second  from  Massachusetts  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum.  In  a  third 
and  younger  specimen  in  the  M.  C.  Z.  collection  (no.  8832  probably  from  Cape  Cod)  the  arch 
is  complete  on  the  left  side  but  not  quite  so  on  the  right,  though  no  doubt  it  would  have  closed 
later  in  life.  -In  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  cervicals  the  lower  process  (parapophysis)  is  longer 
than  the  upper  (diapophysis) .  In  the  sixth,  however,  the  upper  is  the  longer,  and  in  the  seventh 
it  is  even  more  extended,  with  a  strong  downward  curve.  The  lower  process  practically  dis- 
appears with  the  seventh  cervical,  where  it  is  reduced  to  a  minute  knob.  In  one  specimen 
recorded  from  Europe,  the  processes  of  the  fifth  vertebra  unite  to  form  a  ring,  and  three  cases 
are  recorded  in  which  they  are  so  united  in  the  sixth  vertebra. 


270 


ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


^ 

^ 

-% 

*<r* 

h5 
•& 


-•5  <= 

0  C 

O  t 

0  < 

D           CO    OS           O           ^f    !C    Tj^    C 

5  t 

*   O   ^D          iO   u 

5 

N 

°^c 
6?  £  c 

f.  \ 

5  c 

c    c 

8  •" 

?   : 

tiOOSiC           CM           COOOOO 
OOCOCD           OS           CMCN^'' 

0   i- 

i    i- 

H     00     ^                 ^     0 
H     ^H     ^^               ^^ 

0 

jj 

C 

a  ^ 

O  u 

-r   c 

5O1CO           iC          OOOOC 

5   C 

300          -H   C 

5 

OS 

if 

| 

;  ; 

—               T 

M    < 
-i    ^ 
—    - 

9  e 

-i  i 

—  i      - 

O-*1CCM            CO           <NCOOO^ 
-O3COCO           00           (MlNCOi- 

H 

»       W 

H     r 

1    t>»    C<l            OS    0 

1    n    ^f           CO 

0 

jr.  5 

•of 

•* 
- 

r- 
f 

t* 
h 

-t 

0 

pi 

0 
P 

0           CO    CD           CO           (N    1C    •* 

lO^OO           <M           OSOOO 
OOI--1C           00           HCOCO 

t^    CO           (N 

SS     4J 

n 

i 

t 
- 

3 
» 

«• 

fel 
i 
v 

•JOCOlC               O               ilrHlC 

tiOSiiO           t—           COiiCO 
^    CO    1C    ^P           1C           11    CM    CM 

1 

CO    (N           1C 

^00           O 

n  co         co 

h.  •$  0 

r.    '. 

0  i 

f  e 

<1           Tt<OS           -1           CN-^OSC- 

0 

Tf     ^t                 CO      U 

5 

SSN 

.a  c 

5  * 

2     C 

i   .- 

5  ° 

~         T- 
-         - 

0  " 

i  a 

H    r 

3OCOCO           00           C<ICOCOC 

5 

l^    CD           &t    u 

IN    1C           •**"    i- 

5 

H 

iss 

H  o>  o 

•  0 

Q  C 

5    C 

9  u 

^ 

OO^O^O          O          OiO^OC 

1 

5 

O    1C           O    T 

M 

|  .SR 

• 

": 

1     C 
H    t 

1 

*   ^ 

-    i 

ss 

^    iO    CO    CO            ^^            ^^    *^    ^^    ^ 

H 
H 

ic  o        ic  a 

n    CO           IN 

D 

*  « 

9  C 

9 

e 

5           COCO           •*           OOI>^« 

5  ci 

5    OS   !>•           «D    i- 

H 

N 

—  "~ 

j  u 

5  e 

H      T- 

5 
5 

H" 

i 

T" 

5QOS1C           00           OOCMOSC 
OOCOCD           00           (NCOCO-- 
1    ii 

15    T 
H    T- 

(<    CO    1C           CO    « 
1    (N    1C           -*    i- 

3 

H 

ss 

n.  00 

s 

fjc 

;  c 

5 

e 

5O(NO           O           OOiCC 

1     - 

5    O    O           t^    0 

s 

«« 

:  c 
-.  r 

> 

< 

c 

SiCCOCO           '•f1           n    i—  l    N    i- 

3   b 

H 

-    TfH     OS             IN    t" 
.1    <N           (N 

•  H 

I* 

Sec 

i 

Q    CO    CO           OS           00    CO    CO 

•*    O           CO    ^ 

t^    CO           CO    t- 

Csl     CO             Tfl     i- 

* 

H 

2  M 

i 

IN    O   O           O          O   1C   t- 

OS    CD    ii           ^           ^    CO    IN 
**    CO    CO           Tf           n    n    CM  . 

ic  O         oo   ir 

CO    n           IN    01 
il    CO           CM 

: 

3 

a 

D           iiOO           "^           OOOiit^ 

.     P 

5    00    t-           CO    if 

- 

og* 

*1 

vP    03 
^ 

u 

c 

5OO3IN           (M           COCOO3O 
sOl>-CO           OO           INCOCOi- 

H      11 

5    i- 

-       r- 

1    I-*-    OS           T*<    C£ 
^    C^l    1C           ^^    i™ 

•> 

H 

ilj 

§' 

c 

-H 

JiC^iC          O           OOOcC 

)      If 

5    1C    O           "5    C 

1 

*  <  SI 

If 

a 

JOOOOO           (N           COCOOSO 

S    If 

5    CO    OS           il    « 
il    (N           CN 

) 

x— 

a 
^c 

-*- 
j 
1 

7 
1 

•+• 

a 

v_ 

-C 

-*- 

i 

j 

4- 
a 

a 

-f. 

• 

c 

1 

_i 

4 
1 

( 
( 

-f 
C 

C 
,    ~ 

J  '5 
:    t 

:  i 

:    i 
i.   - 
i  ^ 

IJ 

:  T 
;.    c 

E 

e*. 

e 

- 

t- 

- 
t 

a 
H 

? 

3 

j 

x  - 
-     : 

:  .: 

"     — 

'  + 

;1 
U 

-j 

i" 

y 

-•" 

!  I 
1 

:   _c 
:  3 

r.  . 

•** 
) 

1] 

3    * 

11 

a 

fj 

j 

i  ? 
•  j 

Greatest  width  across  squamosals 
"  of  supraoccipital 
"  at  base  of  rostrum  (just  in  front  of 
zygomatic  process  of  maxillary) 
Greatest  width  across  zygomatic  processes  of  max- 
illaries 
Least  width  at  vertex 
Outer  edge  of  orbital  process  of  frontal 
Inner  border  of  orbital  process  of  frontal 
Nasals,  median  lencrth 

; 
t. 
c 
'I. 
( 

c 

a 

A 

•t 
| 

E 
. 

Breadth  across  condyles 
Anterior  edge  of  supraoccipital  to  condyles  in 
median  line  (straight) 
Greatest  length  of  palatal  bones 

"  "  "  tvmnanir 

- 
i 

Cervicals. 

Dortob. 

Lumbars. 

Caiulalt. 

Total. 

7 

11 

12 

18 

48 

7 

11 

12 

20 

50 

7 

11 

?13 

?17  or  18 

47+  (1  or  2) 

LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE.  271 

The  cervical  vertebrae  are  practically  free,  though  in  some  individuals  fusion  of  the  spines 
or  the  lateral  processes  takes  place.  Thus  in  the  Massachusetts  skeleton  described  by  True 
(1904,  p.  200)  the  neural  arch  of  the  third  cervical  is  fused  to  the  spine  of  the  axis,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  skeleton  from  Cape  Cod  (no.  7980)  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology. 
The  vertebral  formulae  of  the  three  Massachusetts  skeletons  are 

No. 

U.  S.  N.  M.  20931 
M.  C. /.  7980 
M.C.Z.  8832 

In  the  last  skeleton  one  or  possibly  two  terminal  vertebrae  are  to  be  added  as  the  47th 
though  small  is  clearly  not  the  last. 

The  "number  of  chevron  bones  in  European  specimens,"  says  True  (1904,  p.  201),  "is 
usually  nine,  but  sometimes  eight.  The  number  in  the  Massachusetts  specimen  [from  Har- 
wichport,  U.  S.  N.  M.  20931]  is  nine."  Eight  are  preserved  with  skeleton  8832  in  the  Museum 
of  Comparative  Zoology,  probably  from  Massachusetts  Bay.  I  believe  that  this  number  does 
not  represent  the  true  count.  In  the  Cape  Cod  specimen  (M.  C.  Z.  7980)  I  dissected  these  out 
with  great  care,  and  found  nine  V-shaped  bones,  as  commonly  recorded,  but  succeeding  these, 
in  the  corresponding  places  between  each  two  vertebrae,  were  four  other  chevrons  consisting 
of  small  paired  plates  that  had  not  united  to  form  Vs.  The  three  last  pairs  were  mostly 
cartilaginous,  and  so  small  as  readily  to  escape  notice,  yet  was  their  nature  unmistakable. 
The  total  number  of  chevrons  should  thus  be  reckoned  as  thirteen  in  this  specimen  and  no  doubt 
four  (or  five)  should  be  added  in  all  cases  where  but  nine  (or  eight)  are  recorded. 

Eibs. —  Eleven  pairs  of  ribs  is  the  normal  number  in  this  species  and  so  far  as  I  know, 
there  have  been  no  variations  from  this  number  recorded. 

Sternum. —  The  sternum  is  commonly  cross-shaped,  with  a  longer  'handle'  than  in  the 
other  species  of  the  genus.  There  appears  to  be  slight  variation  in  the  outline  of  this  bone, 
however,  chiefly  in  the  degree  to  which  the  arms  of  the  cross  are  developed.  The  sternum 
figured  by  Carte  and  Macalister  seems  almost  an  oval.  In  the  retention  of  a  long  posterior 
arm,  the  sternum  of  this  whale  is  perhaps  to  be  considered  less  reduced  and  so  not  so  specialized, 
as  compared  with  other  large  Balaenidae  and  Balaenopteridae. 

Scapula. —  In  general  the  outline  is  much  like  that  of  the  other  members  of  the  genus, 
but  with  the  posterior  border  of  the  curve  bending  rather  more  sharply  downward.  Both 
acromion  and  coracoid  are  strongly  developed.  True  has  shown  that  the  proportionate 
breadth  of  the  scapula  increases  with  age. 

Hand. —  The  phalangeal  bones  of  the  1910  Provincetown  specimen  (now  in  M.  C.  Z.) 
I  dissected  out  with  great  care  on  one  side  and  found  them  to  be:  I  4,  II  8,  IV  7,  V  3.  The 
Harwichport,  Mass.,  skeleton  at  Washington  is  incomplete  in  respect  to  these  bones.  True 


272  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

(1904,  p.  204)  has  summarized  the  counts  as  recorded  by  several  European  observers,  and  the 
result  indicates  some  variation,  the  extremes  of  which  are:  I  3-5,  II  6-9,  IV  5-8,  V  3-4.  The 
extreme  numbers  9  for  digit  II  and  8  for  IV  were  recorded  from  embryos  by  Kiikenthal. 
These  counts  are  greater  by  one  than  recorded  by  other  naturalists,  and  the  same  is  true  of 
Kiikenthal's  figures  for  B.  physalus. 

Pelvis. —  In  an  adult  of  this  species  (28  feet  long)  Turner  found  the  pelvic  bones  to  be 
fully  ossified,  8  and  8.5  inches  long  respectively,  and  of  the  usual  form  in  the  genus.  He  found 
no  indication  of  a  rudimentary  femur,  and  concludes  that  the  fibrous  mass  described  by  Perrin 
(1870)  as  possibly  representing  it,  was  merely  a  cross  section  of  several  tendons. 

Appearance  and  Actions. 

In  1906,  during  a  cruise  along  the  Labrador  coast,  I  saw  numbers  of  these  small  whales 
and  became  somewhat  familiar  with  their  appearance.  On  July  18th,  opposite  Rigolet,  which 
is  well  within  the  estuary  of  Hamilton  Inlet,  there  were  half  a  dozen  feeding  a  mile  or  less  off 
shore.  For  some  while  as  I  watched  them  they  circled  about  in  a  circumscribed  area,  asso- 
ciated in  pairs  which  rose  and  dived  in  unison,  to  appear  again  after  a  short  interval.  They 
acted  as  if  pursuing  a  school  of  fish,  possibly  capelin  (Mallotus) .  On  coming  to  the  surface, 
they  '  blew,'  with  a  sound  distinctly  audible  at  near  a  mile  distant,  yet  rarely  was  there  a  visible 
spout.  Sometimes,  however,  a  short  column  of  spray  was  seen,  a  result  perhaps  of  the  whale's 
breathing  before  reaching  the  surface,  and  so  forcing  up  a  small  amount  of  water.  Usually 
these  whales  rise  to  blow  five  times  in  succession,  though  I  have  counted  as  many  as  eight 
successive  breathings,  and  there  may  be  three  or  only  one.  Five  seemed  the  usual  number 
when  undisturbed.  The  back  surges  to  the  surface  immediately  after  exhaling,  and  the  high 
curved  dorsal  fin  follows  at  once,  without  the  slight  interval  noticeable  in  the  Common  Finback 
and  the  Blue  Whales,  whose  great  length  of  back  must  first  reach  the  surface  before  the  dorsal 
fin  appears.  The  tail  is  not  shown  as  the  whale  settles  in  the  water,  curves  the  body  slightly 
downward  and  dives  beneath  the  surface.  In  feeding,  the  movements  seemed  leisurely  and 
unhurried.  On  July  21st,  however,  as  the  steamer  was  near  shore  between  Hopedale  and 
Double  Island,  we  witnessed  an  unusual  display  of  exuberant  spirits,  when  a  whale  of  this  spe- 
cies appeared  off  the  bow  '  breeching '  -  -  or  leaping  clear  of  the  water.  Five  times  it  shot 
above  the  surface,  belly  uppermost,  clearing  the  water  beautifully,  and  with  body  arched 
slightly  backward,  fell  on  its  back  with  a  great  splash.  At  each  leap  it  came  nearer  our  vessel, 
and  as  it  cleared  the  surface  the  beautiful  pinkish  tint  of  the  white  belly  was  clearly  perceived, 
and  the  white  band  on  the  flipper  was  markedly  conspicuous.  Finally  its  last  leap  brought 
it  very  near,  when  it  dived,  came  to  the  surface  for  a  normal  'blow'  and  passed  far  to  port 
before  again  rising  for  breath.  We  saw  many  more  of  these  little  whales  among  the  bays 


LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE.  273 

anil  fiords  of  this  rocky  coast,  but  no  other  was  ever  seen  to  leap  out  of  water.  At  Makkovik 
Island  one  was  sighted  near  the  edge  of  the  pack  ice.  Near  Hopedale  Harbor  a  pair  and  later 
a  single  one  rose  to  spout,  and  eight  single  ones  between  Fanny's  Harbor  and  Nain,  with  pack 
ice  constantly  near.  On  the  return  the  following  day,  two  pairs  and  eight  singles  were  seen, 
and  off  Cape  Harrison  a  lone  one  close  in  shore,  that  in  diving  turned  on  its  side  and  showed 
its  white  wrist  band.  This  last  individual  several  times  shot  up  a  column  of  spray  when  it 
rose  to  breathe,  but  this  was  probably  in  part  water  carried  up  with  the  breath,  for  the  surface 
was  very  rough  at  the  time.  Ordinarily  no  'spout'  is  visible  even  in  the  Labrador  waters  be- 
cause, no  doubt,  on  account  of  the  comparatively  small  size  of  the  whale  and  the  slight  depth  to 
which  it  dives,  the  air  in  the  lungs  is  not  under  such  compression  and  is  not  expelled  with  such 
great  force  as  in  the  larger  species.  For  as  suggested  by  Racovitza,  it  is  probably  the  sudden 
and  great  expansion  of  the  moisture-charged  breath  that  cools  it  sufficiently  to  cause  the  con- 
densation of  the  vapor. 

Probably  there  is  a  slight  migratory  movement  of  these  whales  in  summer,  for  they  follow 
the  open  water  as  the  ice  goes  out,  seemingly  in  pursuit  of  the  shoals  of  fish  that  come  in  shore. 
On  the  Norwegian  coast  it  is  called  the  Summer  Whale  since  it  appears  more  frequently  at 
that  season.  In  Perley's  Report  on  the  Sea  and  River  Fisheries  of  New  Brunswick,  1852,  it  is 
said  that  the  Gaspe  fishermen  do  not  commence  pursuit  of  the  Humpback  until  the  appear- 
ance about  the  middle  of  June  of  a  smaller  species  (doubtless  the  Little  Piked  Whale)  which 
swims  too  fast  to  be  easily  harpooned,  and  besides  is  not  worth  the  trouble.  This  would  imply 
that  these  whales  are  not  present  in  the  Bay  of  St.  Lawrence  in  such  numbers  in  winter,  when 
the  gulf  is  choked  with  ice.  Brown  (1868)  says  that  in  Davis  Strait  and  Baffin's  Bay  it  is  a 
summer  visitor  only,  and  that  even  in  southern  Greenland  it  is  rarely  seen  in  winter. 

From  the  observations  recounted  above,  it  seems  that  this  whale  is  less  social  than  the 
( 'ominon  Finback,  and  is  usually  seen  singly  or  in  pairs.  At  times,  however,  as  when  attracted 
by  a  school  of  fish,  several  may  congregate  in  the  same  place. 

Food. 

Exact  observations  as  to  the  food  of  this  Rorqual  are  disappointingly  few,  but  it  seems 
to  be  a  fish-eater  to  a  large  extent,  though  no  doubt  the  diet  is  occasionally  varied  with  free- 
swimming  crustaceans.  Flower  (1864,  p.  254)  mentions  a  specimen  the  stomach  of  which 
contained  the  remains  of  numerous  fish  of  considerable  size.  The  identity  of  the  fish  is  uncer- 
tain, though  his  informant  believed  them  to  be  cod.  Guldberg  (1885)  says,  in  speaking  of  this 
whale  that  it  follows  the  schools  of  herring  with  the  Common  Finback.  Undoubtedly  it  feeds 
largely  on  this  fish,  and,  on  the  Labrador  coast  it  probably  pursues  the  capelin  (Mallotus) 
as  it  is  known  to  do  in  Greenland,  following  it  in  among  the  bays  and  fiords.  So  abundant 


274  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

are  the  capelin  in  the  northern  waters,  when  they  come  in  shore  to  spawn  that  quantities  may 
easily  be  dipped  up  with  a  net.  The  cod  feed  largely  on  capelin  so  it  may  be  that  the  whale 
is  really  pursuing  these  latter  in  company  with  the  cod  when  it  is  believed  to  be  feeding  on  cod. 
Carte  and  Macalister  found  nothing  in  the  stomach  of  their  specimen  except  what  seemed  to 
be  the  lens  of  a  fish's  eye.  Hunter  mentions  finding  in  the  stomach  of  one,  the  remains  of 
sundry  fish,  including  a  dogfish. 

On  the  New  England  coast  herring  probably  form  its  chief  food,  and  no  doubt  it  was  while 
in  pursuit  of  these  fish  that  several  of  those  recorded  were  taken  in  fish  traps. 

Perrin  found  small  pebbles  in  the  stomach  of  the  specimen  described  by  him,  but  these 
may  have  come  from  the  fish  eaten  by  the  whale. 

Breeding  Habits. 

Of  its  breeding  habits  practically  nothing  is  known.  As  with  other  whales,  a  single  young 
at  a  birth  is  the  rule.  Specimens  have  been  taken  as  small  as  nine  or  ten  feet  in  length,  which 
were  probably  newly  born  or  at  least  but  a  few  weeks  old.  Van  Beneden  (1869)  records  one 
of  three  meters  taken  on  the  coast  of  Brittany  in  February,  1861,  and  Knox  speaks  of  one  killed 
in  the  Firth  of  Forth  in  February,  1834,  that  was  but  ten  feet  long.  These  two  were  probably 
born  sometime  in  early  winter.  Eschricht  believes  the  period  of  gestation  to  be  ten  months, 
and  says  that  the  young  whale  at  birth  is  nine  feet  long,  or  about  a  third  to  a  fourth  the  length 
of  the  adult.  A  foetus  of  8  feet  2  inches  is  mentioned  as  seen  by  Melchoir  which  must  have 
been  nearly  mature  (van  Beneden,  1887).  Guldberg  (1886,  p.  145)  after  reviewing  all  the 
evidence  obtainable  concludes  that  the  period  of  gestation  is  about  ten  months,  and  that  the 
young  are  born  probably  in  November,  December,  or  January.  The  new  born  young  is  about 
nine  feet  long. 

Geographic  Distribution. 

In  the  North  Atlantic  the  Least  Rorqual  seems  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the  cooler  waters 
to  the  northward  of  the  warm  Gulf  Stream  current.  On  the  western  side,  it  has  been  recorded 
as  far  south  as  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  but  is  apparently  rare  below  the  latitude  of  Long 
Island.  In  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  along  the  east  coast  of  Labrador  it  is  common  but 
in  Davis  Strait  it  is  rare  and  only  a  few  seem  to  reach  Baffin's  Bay.  Brown  (1868)  says  that 
the  natives  of  the  western  shores  of  Davis  Strait  seldom  recognized  the  figures  of  this  species, 
but  the  people  of  south  Greenland  knew  it  well.  Low  (1906,  p.  273)  says  it  is  unknown  to 
the  Eskimo  of  Baffin  Island.  Fabricius,  in  1780,  wrote  that  it  was  plentiful  in  summer  among 
the  bays  of  south  Greenland,  but  in  winter  appeared  to  be  rare.  In  the  eastern  Atlantic  the 
Little  Piked  Whale  is  abundant  along  the  Norwegian  coasts,  and  in  summer  goes  as  far  north 


LITTLE  PIKED  \\HA1.K.  275 

as  Spitsbergen,  following  the  open  water.  Scoresby  (1820,  vol.  1,  p.  486)  records  a  specimen 
killed  there  in  1813,  the  whalebone  of  which  was  "of  a  yellowish  white  colour,  and  semi-trans- 
parent, almost  like  lantern-horns."  It  is  occasionally  stranded  on  the  shores  of  the  British 
Isles,  and  on  the  French  coast  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Rarely  it  enters  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
A  skeleton  is  preserved  at  Bologne  said  to  belong  to  an  individual  killed  in  the  Adriatic,  and 
there  are  other  Mediterranean  records.  The  presence  of  this  whale  in  the  intertropical  seas 
has  not  apparently  been  reported.  A  similar  whale  occurs,  however,  in  the  Southern  Ocean 
and  has  been  distinguished  as  B.  huttoni,  and  another  name,  B.  davidsoni,  has  been  applied  to 
whales  of  this  type  occurring  in  the  North  Pacific.  Though  the  ranges  of  these  three  whales 
appear  to  be  separated,  their  characters  are  not  well  ascertained  and  it  is  still  uncertain  whether 
the  distinctions  are  truly  of  specific  value.  So  far  as  observations  show,  it  is  distinctively  a 
shore-frequenting  whale,  and  seems  to  avoid  the  high  seas. 

Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters. 

In  his  great  work  on  the  whalebone  whales  of  the  western  North  Atlantic,  True  (1904, 
pp.  193,  195)  was  able  to  adduce  notes  on  but  five  individuals  of  this  whale  from  this  side  of 
the  ocean,  and  these  all  appertain  to  specimens  taken  within  the  New  England  limits.  Yet  it  is 
probable  that  the  species  is  rather  more  common  than  these  few  instances  would  imply.  Indeed 
I  have  been  able  to  increase  this  number  considerably.  The  Little  Piked  Whale  is  not  unknown 
to  our  fishermen,  who  either  distinguish  it  as  'Grampus  Whale'  or  regard  it  as  merely  a  "young 
Finback."  The  former  term  is  rightly  applied  to  this  species  by  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  in  his  mammals 
of  Massachusetts  (1869),  in  quoting  some  general  notes  supplied  by  Capt.  Nathan  E.  Atwood 
of  Provincetown. 

Below  I  have  given  all  the  instances  known  to  me  of  the  occurrence  of  this  whale  in  New 
England. 

1849. —  What  may  from  its  small  size,  have  been  a  whale  of  this  species  is  thus  recorded 
by  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  (vol.  29,  no.  62,  May  23,  1849):  "The  fishing  schooner  Orleans, 
Captain  Tinker,  towed  into  New  London  (May  15th],  a  dead  whale,  18  or  20  feet  long,  found 
near  Point  Judith,"  Rhode  Island. 

1862. —  The  capture  of  a  ""young  finback  whale,  thirty  feet  long,"  off  Cape  Elizabeth, 
Maine,  is  reported  in  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  October  9,  1852  (vol.  32,  no.  117).  This  may 
possibly  have  been  a  Little  Piked  Whale,  but  there  is  no  evidence  other  than  its  size. 

1866. —  A  "small  whale"  that  eventually  yielded  but  three  barrels  of  oil,  was  captured 
and  killed  in  one  of  the  herring  weirs  at  Lubec,  Maine,  about  the  20th  of  August  (Nantucket 
Inquirer,  vol.  36,  no.  97.  Aug.  22, 1856).  Its  small  size  raises  a  presumption  that  it  may  have 
been  of  this  species. 


276  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

1858. —  In  the  Museum  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History  is  the  imperfect  cranium 
of  a  small  whale  of  this  species,  taken  at  Provincetown.  It  was  received  with  the  Wyman 
Collection,  of  which  it  was  1463.  In  the  manuscript  catalogue  of  this  collection  it  is  entered 
as  a  'Grampus  Whale'  but  nothing  further  is  known  of  its  history.  From  the  dates  of  other 
entries  in  the  catalogue  it  seems  that  it  was  probably  received  about  the  year  1858. 

1867. —  A  whale  twenty-five  feet  long  was  captured  about  August  20th,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Seconnet  River,  Rhode  Island.  It  was  one  of  three  that  "had  been  sporting  about  in  the 
river."  From  its  small  size  and  the  fact  that  the  three  were  inshore,  probably  feeding  in  the 
estuary,  these  were  probably  the  present  species,  but  the  evidence  is  of  course  inconclusive 
(see  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  Aug.  24,  1867). 

1873. —  In  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  are  pieces  of  the  characteristic  baleen 
and  other  fragments  of  a  Little  Piked  Whale  collected  at  Provincetown,  August  15th,  1873, 
by  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake.  The  specimens  are  labeled  "young  Finback."  This  is  probably  the 
whale  of  which  the  measurements  were  published  by  True  (1904,  p.  195)  as  supplied  him  by 
Mr.  Blake. 

1878. —  A  "small  Finback  Whale"  is  reported,  "sporting  in  the  waters  off  Surfside,  Nan- 
tucket,  the  last  of  October  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  59,  no.  18,  Nov.  2,  1878)  - 
possibly  a  Little  Piked  Whale.     It  stayed  in  the  vicinity  for  several  days. 

1881. —  According  to  Dr.  F.  W.  True  (1904,  p.  193)  an  imperfect  skull  was  dredged  up 
near  Pigeon  Cove,  Mass.,  in  1881,  and  sent  to  the  U.  S.  National  Museum,  by  Mr.  Wm.  H. 
Jackson.  The  specimen  is  number  23,025  U.  S.  N.  M. 

1882. —  The  skull  of  a  fairly  large  though  not  full  grown  specimen,  is  in  the  Museum  of 
Comparative  Zoology,  marked  "Mass.  Bay,  summer  of  1882,  J.  Henry  Blake."  What  may 
be  the  spinal  column  and  ribs  of  the  same  individual  are  also  in  the  collection,  unfortunately 
without  indication  of  locality  or  collector.  Mr.  Blake  at  my  request  has  searched  his  journal 
for  a  possible  note  of  this  specimen  but  without  avail. 

1883.—  Dr.  F.  W.  True  (1904,  p.  193)  records  "a  skeleton  16  ft.  5|  in.  long  from  off  Mono- 
moy  Pt.  Lighthouse,  Harwichport,  Massachusetts,  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum"  (no.  20,931) 
received  in  this  year  from  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commission.  Up  to  the  year  1904  it  was  the  only 
skeleton  of  the  species  known  to  be  preserved  from  the  American  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

1887. —  The  Nantucket  Journal  (vol.  9,  no.  40,  June  30,  1887)  records  the  capture  of  a 
"Grampus  Whale,"  ten  feet  long  and  weighing  seven  or  eight  hundred  pounds,  near  Smith's 
Point,  Nantucket,  about  the  last  of  June.  It  had  become  entangled  in  a  blue-fish  net  and 
drowned.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  refers  to  the  Little  Piked  Whale,  which  is  com- 
monly called  Grampus  Whale  by  those  fishermen  who  recognize  it  as  distinct  from  the  Finback, 

The  same  journal  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  9,  no.  42,  July  21,  1887)  records  the  capture 
of  a  second  "Grampus  Whale"  in  the  upper  harbor  near  Wauwinet,  Mass.,  about  the  10th 


LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE.  277 

of  July.  A  boat's  crew  succeeded  in  harpooning  the  whale,  and  it  towed  the  boat  about  for 
nearly  an  hour,  before  it  was  sufficiently  exhausted  to  allow  itself  to  be  killed  with  an  axe. 
It  had  been  seen  in  the  harbor  for  most  of  the  day  before  the  capture  was  undertaken.  Its 
length  is  given  as  nine  feet,  hence  nearly  the  size  of  the  one  caught  off  Nantucket  shortly  before. 

Major  E.  A.  Mearns  sends  me  the  account  of  the  capture  of  a  small  whale  that  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  "young  Finback,"  but  was  perhaps  a  Little  Piked  Whale.  The  incident 
occurred  in  Narragansett  Bay,  R.  I.,  but  the  exact  date  is  not  available.  By  some  curious 
accident,  the  whale  in  rising  to  the  surface  caught  its  head  between  the  stern  and  the  propellor 
blades  of  the  Government  steamer  Munroe  as  it  lay  at  the  South  Dock.  In  its  struggles  to  free 
itself  the  whale  nearly  lifted  the  stern  of  the  vessel  out  of  water.  The  Captain,  seeing  that  the 
whale  was  caught  fast,  turned  on  full  steam  in  order  to  dislodge  it.  This  had  the  desired 
result,  but  the  swiftly  revolving  blades  inflicted  such  injuries  upon  the  whale's  head  that  it 
rushed  upon  a  shoal  at  the  head  of  Brenton's  Cove  and  became  stranded.  It  was  finally  killed 
there  by  soldiers  from  Fort  Adams,  and  after  being  exhibited  at  the  Fort  and  in  Newport,  was 
condemned  by  the  health  authorities.  It  was  said  to  have  been  a  female,  about  thirty  feet 
long. 

1889. —  A  female,  22  feet,  8  inches  long  was  captured  near  Quoddy  Head  Life  Saving 
Station,  Maine,  September  6th,  and  reported  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution  by  Captain  A. 
H.  Myers,  Keeper  of  the  Station.  It  is  recorded  by  Dr.  F.  W.  True  (1904,  p.  193)  who  mentions 
that  two  photographs  of  it  are  likewise  on  file.  It  is  apparently  the  largest  specimen  of  which 
there  is  any  accurate  record,  from  the  eastern  coast  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  odd  that  another  small  whale,  probably  of  the  same  species,  should  have  been  killed 
at  about  the  same  time  in  Rhode  Island  waters.  The  circumstances  were  communicated  by 
(then)  Lieutenant  Wirt  Robinson  to  Major  E.  A.  Mearns,  to  whom  I  am  in  turn  indebted  for 
the  note.  The  whale  was  killed  September  5th  near  Fort  Adams,  and  was  said  to  have  t»een 
about  27  feet  long  with  whalebone  eight  or  ten  inches  long.  Lieutenant  Robinson  spoke  of 
another  whale  30  to  32  feet  long  that  was  rammed  by  his  launch  in  February  1900,  and  after- 
ward ran  aground  at  Fort  Adams.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate  its  identity,  however. 

1893. —  In  July  of  this  year  a  female,  15  feet,  4  inches  long,  became  entangled  in  the  nets 
of  the  fishermen  near  Portland,  Maine,  and  was  exhibited  in  that  city.  Dr.  F.  W.  True  has 
published  (1904)  an  account  with  the  measurements  of  this  specimen,  as  furnished  him  by 
Joseph  P.  Thompson,  Esq.,  Vice-President  of  the  Portland  Society  of  Natural  History. 

1896. —  What  appears  to  have  been  a  Little  Piked  Whale  entered  one  of  the  fish  weirs 
at  Provincetown,  about  May  7th,  and  was  at  once  dispatched  by  the  owner.  It  is  spoken  of 
as  "a  young  Finback  about  25  feet  long"  and  was  estimated  to  yield  not  more  than  two  barrels 
of  oil  (Nantucket  Journal,  vol.  17,  no.  32,  May  9,  1895). 

1904. —  A  Finback  Whale  about  30  feet  long  was  reported  by  the  coast   guards  "dis- 


278  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

porting  in  the  water  near  the  Maddequet  Life  Saving  Station,  Nantucket,  within  a  stone's 
throw  from  shore"  about  the  10th  of  November  (Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror,  vol.  85, 
no.  22,  Nov.  19,  1904).  From  its  small  size  and  its  coming  so  close  inshore,  it  may  perhaps 
have  been  the  present  species. 

1905. —  About  the  10th  of  March  a  specimen  became  stranded  in  Provincetown  Harbor 
and  was  captured  by  men  of  the  Life  Saving  Station.  A  highly  colored  account  of  the  occur- 
rence appeared  in  the  Boston  Sunday  Post,  March  26,  1905.  The  skeleton  of  this  whale  was 
secured  for  the  U.  S.  National  Museum. 

What  may  have  been  an  individual  of  the  same  species  was  reported  to  have  run  aground 
in  shallow  water  in  the  western  part  of  Provincetown  Harbor  about  the  first  of  February, 
where  it  was  dispatched  by  men  from  the  Wood  End  Life  Saving  Station  (Nantucket  Inquirer 
and  Mirror,  vol.  85,  no.  32,  Feb.  4,  1905).  Its  length  was  given  as  25  or  30  feet,  but  apart 
from  its  small  size  there  is  no  other  evidence  as  to  its  identity. 

1909. —  A  small  specimen,  measuring  about  14?  feet  in  length  was  taken  in  the  fish  traps 
at  Provincetown  on  August  21st,  and  a  cast  of  it  secured  by  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural 
History.  Later,  it  was  partially  embalmed  and  exhibited  in  Winthrop.  The  skull,  slightly 
damaged,  was  eventually  secured  by  the  Society.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  for 
the  measurements  of  this  specimen. 

1910. —  On  May  18th,  a  small  specimen,  measuring  but  12^  feet  in  length  entered  one  of 
the  fish  traps  at  South  Truro,  Mass.,  and  was  killed  by  the  fishermen  when  they  visited  the  net 
in  the  morning.  It  was  reported  as  a  "baby  Finback,"  but  Mr.  D.  C.  Stull  of  Provincetown, 
in  response  to  my  inquiries,  has  given  me  a  brief  account  of  its  characteristic  markings  which 
leaves  no  doubt  as  to  its  identity.  The  carcass  was  later  towed  out  to  sea. 

A  second  whale  of  this  species,  measuring  15  feet  3  inches  in  length,  was  caught  in  the  same 
trap  on  the  Truro  shore,  June  25th.  I  was  informed  of  its  capture  by  Mr.  Stull  and  through 
his  kindness  was  enabled  to  measure  and  photograph  it  at  Provincetown  three  days  later.  The 
skeleton  was  secured  for  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology.  A  view  of  the  ventral  surface 
of  this  whale  is  shown  in  Plate  13,  fig.  2. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  for  the  record  of  a  third  specimen  which  was  killed 
at  Provincetown  on  August  14th.  A  few  days  previously  what  was  probably  this  individual 
entered  a  fish  weir  at  the  western  end  of  Provincetown  Harbor,  but  was  turned  out  again  by  the 
fishermen.  Shortly  after  it  entered  a  weir  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Harbor  and  was  killed 
with  a  knife.  Mr.  Blake  has  kindly  given  me  the  measurements  he  took  of  this  whale,  and 
from  it  he  has  also  drawn  the  excellent  figure  here  published  (Plate  14). 

1911. —  What  was  undoubtedly  a  whale  of  this  species  was  captured  in  one  of  the  fish 
traps  at  Provincetown  in  June,  1911.  As  the  fishermen  could  make  no  use  of  it  they  set  it  free 
again.  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake,  who  reported  to  me  this  occurrence,  adds  that  the  men  called  it  a 
"young  Finback." 


LITTLE  PTKED  WHALE. 


279 


1913. —  Some  pieces  of  baleen  of  this  species  were  picked  up  at  Horseneck  Beach,  Barn- 
stable,  Mass.,  probably  early  this  year  or  shortly  previous.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  C.  W.  John- 
son, who  identified  the  specimens,  for  this  information.  No  doubt  they  came  from  a  whale 
that  had  been  killed  near  that  coast. 

Little  Piked  Whale  in  New  England  Waters. 


i 

a 

m 

s 

1 

i? 

•^ 

| 

.? 

September 

October 

S 

j 

Point  Judith,  Rhode  Island 

1849 

1 

Off  Cape  Elizabeth,  Maine 

1852 

1 

Lubec,  Maine 

1856 

1 

Provincetown,  Mass. 
Seconnet  River,  Rhode  Island 

1858 
1867 

3 

Provincetown,  Mass. 

1873 

1 

Xantucket,  Mass. 

1878 

?1 

Off  Pigeon  Cove,  Mass. 
Massachusetts  Bay 

1881 
1882 

sum 

Ml,  1 

Off  Monomoy  Pt.  Light,  Mass. 
Xantucket,  Mass. 

1883 

1887 

1 

Wauwinet  Harbor,  Mass. 

1887 

1 

Xurragansett  Bay,  Rhode  Island 
Quoddy  Head,  Maine 

1887 
1889 

1 

Fort  Adams,  Rhode  Island 

1889 

1 

Portland,  Maine 

1893 

1 

Provincetown,  Mass. 

1895 

1 

Nantucket,  Mass. 

1904 

'1 

Provincetown,  Mass. 
Provincetown,  Mass. 

1905 
1905 

11 

1 

Provincetown,  Mass. 

1909 

1 

South  Truro,  Mass. 

1910 

i 

South  Truro,  Mass. 

1910 

1 

Provincetown,  Mass. 

1910 

1 

Provincetown,  Mass. 

1911 

1 

Barnstable,  Mass. 

1913 

2 

0 

?1 

1 

0 

3 

3 

2 

7 

2 

2 

?1 

0 

It  is  interesting  to  see  from  these  records,  that  most  of  the  individuals  of  which  there  is 
any  special  note,  were  captured  in  fish  traps  close  to  shore,  or  in  harbors  or  estuaries.  With 
one  exception  all  those  that  were  actually  measured,  were  under  17  feet  in  length  (the  one 
exception  was  22  feet  8  inches).  In  other  words  they  are  chiefly  immature  animals.  That  so 
large  a  proportion  (9  out  of  25  records)  were  taken  in  fish  weirs  is  indicative  not  only  of  the 


280  ALLEN:   NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

propensity  of  this  species  to  frequent  bays,  harbors,  and  shallow  waters  near  shore,  but  also 
perhaps,  implies  that  they  were  seeking  fish  for  food  —  herring  probably.  That  so  large  a 
number  were  youngish  might  be  due  merely  to  their  lack  of  experience  and  wariness,  so  that 
they  did  not  avoid  the  traps  which  older  and  more  experienced  individuals  might  have  shunned. 
By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  captures  are  in  summer,  but  this  may  be  partly  due  to  the  lessened 
activity  with  the  fish  traps  in  winter,  although  the  abundance  of  herring  in  summer  is  the  more 
probable  explanation. 

It  is  noticeable  that  the  records  include  the  entire  Maine  coast,  are  most  numerous  for  the 
tip  end  of  Cape  Cod,  whose  hook-like  barrier  seems  to  act  as  a  leader  to  bring  roving  sea  crea- 
tures to  Provincetown,  thence  extend  to  the  waters  about  Nantucket  and  the  bays  of  Rhode 
Island,  but  do  not  take  in  Connecticut.  This  is  in  accord  with  what  has  been  shown  for  the 
other  species  of  large  whales,  that  they  are  much  less  frequent  in  Long  Island  Sound,  and 
seldom  penetrate  beyond  its  eastern  end. 

Economic  Value. 

The  amount  of  oil  is  too  small  and  the  whales  are  too  scattered  to  induce  fishermen  to 
undertake  their  pursuit.  The  whalebone  is  of  no  value  on  account  of  its  small  size.  The 
occasional  individuals  taken  in  fish  traps  in  our  waters  are  either  dispatched  as  nuisances  by 
the  fishermen  or  allowed  to  escape  if  they  will  without  damaging  the  nets.  On  the  Labrador 
coast,  however,  one  is  killed  now  and  then  to  provide  food  for  the  hungry  Eskimo  dogs,  and  in 
Greenland  waters  they  are  sometimes  killed  for  food  by  the  Eskimos.  Egede  (1745)  who  was 
for  twenty-five  years  a  missionary  in  that  country,  says  in  speaking  of  the  Fin  Whales  that 
occasionally  were  obtained,  "The  Greenlanders  make  much  of  them,  on  account  of  their  Flesh, 
which,  with  them,  passes  for  dainty  Cheer." 

Enemies  and  Parasites. 

So  far  as  known  the  Little  Piked  Whale  has  no  special  enemies  among  the  larger  preda- 
cious fish  or  marine  mammals.  No  doubt  it  may  occasionally  be  forced  to  flee  from  the  vora- 
cious Orca,  but  of  this  I  have  found  no  certain  evidence,  and  its  habit  of  keeping  inshore  among 
bays  and  harbors  probably  minimizes  this  danger.  On  account  of  its  small  size  and  thin 
blubber  it  is  not  an  object  of  pursuit  among  whalemen. 

In  the  specimen  dissected  by  Carte  and  Macalister,  a  number  of  intestinal  parasites  were 
discovered,  a  species  of  entozoan  known  as  Echinorhynchus  porrigens.  These  were  found  in 
the  wall  of  the  intestine  below  the  duodenum.  Their  presence  was  indicated  by  a  number 
of  hard  tubercular  bodies,  like  short  blunt  cones  with  a  small  perforation  at  the  apex  of  each 
on  the  inner  wall  of  the  intestine.  Each  perforation  led  into  a  tortuous  canal  within  the  wall 


LITTLE  PIKED  WHALE.  281 

of  the  intestine,  which  contained  the  long  body  of  the  parasite,  firmly  fastened  at  its  head  end 
by  hooks  sunk  into  the  fundus  of  each  canal. 

Van  Beneden  (1859)  has  described  a  very  large  trematode  or  liver-fluke,  Distoma  goliath, 
from  specimens  sent  him  by  Eschricht  found  in  the  liver,  and  he  himself  found  the  same  species 
in  a  specimen  captured  in  the  Escaut  in  1865. 

A  species  of  Ascaris  (A.  angulivalvis)  is  described  by  Creplin  from  the  intestine,  and  a 
thread  worm,  Filaria  crassicauda,  is  found  in  the  urethral  canal  and  in  the  corpora  cavernosa 
of  the  male. 

Of  external  parasites,  Penella  balaenopterae,  an  aberrant  crustacean,  is  sometimes  found, 
particularly  about  the  genital  orifices.  It  was  first  described  from  a  specimen  taken  from  a 
whale  of  this  species  captured  on  the  coast  of  Norway  (Koren  and  Danielssen :  Fauna  Littoralis 
Norvegiae,  1877,  part  3,  p.  157,  pi.  16,  fig.  1-9).  In  its  adult  condition,  the  body  is  buried  in 
the  flesh  of  the  whale  and  the  slender  thoracic  portion  floats  free  for  some  eight  inches  (180  mm.). 
A  stalked  barnacle,  Conchoderma  virgata  sometimes  attaches  itself  to  the  Penella. 


282  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


tBalaenoptera  ?sursiplana  COPE. 
THE  FOSSIL  FINBACK  OF  GAY  HEAD. 

PLATE  15. 

SYNONYMY. 

1842-3.     Balacna  Lyell,  Proc.  Geol.  Soc.  London,  vol.  4,  pt.  1,  p.  33;  Amer.  Journ.  Sci.  and  Arts,  1844,  ser.  1, 

vol.  40,  p.  320. 
1895.     Balaenoptera  sursiplana  Cope,  Proc.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  34,  p.  151. 

To  this  extinct  species  I  shall  provisionally  refer  certain  bone  fragments,  chiefly  verte- 
brae, from  the  Miocene  deposits  of  Gay  Head,  Martha's  Vineyard,  Mass.,  which  are  so 
similar  to  bones  of  living  Balaenoptera  as  to  be  practically  indistinguishable.  This  species 
was  described  by  Cope  from  the  Yorktown  Miocene  formation  of  Maryland  on  the  basis  of 
the  tympanic  or  ear  bone,  which  indicates  a  whalebone  whale  of  the  size  of  the  Common 
Finback  of  the  present  day.  Unfortunately  it  is  impossible,  on  account  of  the  dissociated  con- 
dition of  the  parts  of  the  skeleton,  to  refer  any  vertebrae  definitely  to  the  whale  that  pro- 
duced the  ear  bone,  and  no  ear  bones  have  been  discovered  in  the  Gay  Head  formation  to 
strengthen  the  supposition  that  the  vertebrae  there  found  are  those  of  B.  sursiplana.  Yet 
the  species  occurs  in  fossil  condition  throughout  the  Chesapeake  Group  of  Maryland,  and  is 
the  only  one  referred  to  true  Balaenoptera,  so  that  its  occurrence  in  these  beds  of  correspond- 
ing age  is  to  be  expected. 

Occurrence  of  the  Fossils. 

The  Miocene  strata  exposed  at  Gay  Head  are  considered  to  correspond  in  age  to  the  lower- 
most or  Calvert  Formation  of  the  Chesapeake  Group.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  similarity 
of  the  fossil  mollusks  in  both  beds.  Further  evidence  for  this  I  have  recently  found  in  the 
discovery  of  a  well  preserved  tooth  of  the  extinct  toothed  whale,  Basilosaurus  [=  Squalodon] 
atlanticus  from  Gay  Head,  and  now  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology.  In 
the  Maryland  Miocene  this  genus  is  as  yet  known  from  the  Calvert  beds  only. 

At  Gay  Head  the  whale  bones  are  found  in  a  pebbly  conglomerate  underlying  a  stratum 
of  greensand  (in  which  are  numerous  fossil  crabs  of  a  peculiar  type).  They  are  associated 
with  fossil  sharks'  teeth  and  casts  of  mollusks.  Probably  at  least  four  genera  of  Cetacea  are 
represented  among  the  various  broken  vertebrae  in  this  hard  conglomerate.  The  specimens 
are  chiefly  centra  with  the  neural  spines  or  the  lateral  processes  broken  off,  and  present  very 
little  that  is  especially  characteristic.  No  doubt  they  are  the  remains  of  whales  that  were  cast 


PLATE  15. 

Bones  of  the  fossil  Finback  Whale  referred  to  \Balaenoptera  sursiplana,  from  the  Miocene  deposits  of  Gay 
Head,  Martha's  Vineyard,  Mass. 

Figs.  1,  2,  3.  Anterior  views  of  three  caudal  vertebrae  from  near  the  end  of  the  series,  showing  the 
change  from  circular  to  squarisli  outline  as  the  tip  is  neared.  (Collection  M.  C.  Z.,  nos.  8743, 
8742,  3742.)  X  i 

Figs.  4,  5.  Upper  view  of  same  bones  shown  in  Figs.  2  and  3.  The  characteristic  bracket-shaped  depres- 
sions and  the  foramina  which  open  into  them  for  the  passage  of  blood  vessels,  are  clearly  seen. 
Xf 

Figs.  6,  7,  8.  The  same  three  vertebrae  shown  in  Figs.  1,  2,  3  respectively,  but  from  the  lower  side. 
In  Figs.  6  and  7  appears  the  characteristic  rounded  pit  into  which  open  the  two  foramina  seen  in 
Fig.  4  on  the  upper  side. 

Fig.  9.  Fragment  from  the  upper  part  of  a  rib,  in  the  collection  of  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology 
(no.  8744).  X  about  f . 

Fig.  10.  Centrum  of  a  large  vertebra  showing  the  bases  of  the  transverse  processes  and  neural  spine. 
The  epiphyses  had  not  yet  fused  to  the  front  and  back  ends  of  the  centrum.  (Collection  of  the 
Society,  no.  9698).  X  |. 


MEMOIRS  BOSTON  Soc.  NAT.  HIST.  VOL.  8,  No.  2. 


PLATE  15. 


10 


FOSSIL  WHALE  OF  GAY  HEAD. 


FOSSIL  FINBACK  OF  GAY  HEAD.  283 

up  on  the  ancient  shore,  and  became  gradually  disintegrated  by  the  tides.  No  parts  of  crania 
have  yet  been  found  that  might  more  clearly  show  the  identity  of  the  species.  The  layer 
containing  the  bones  is  exposed  near  the  top  of  a  seaward  bluff,  and  as  the  cliff  becomes  weath- 
ered away  they  are  often  washed  to  the  shore  below.  William  Baylies,1  as  long  ago  as  1793, 
in  writing  of  Gay  Head  noticed  that  "the  bones  of  whales,  sharks'  teeth,  and  petrified  shell 
fish,  are  frequently  picked  up,  scattered  up  and  down  the  cliff,  at  a  considerable  distance 
above  the  surface  of  the  water."  Charles  Lyell  also  mentioned  them  briefly  in  1842-3,  and 
on  Richard  Owen's  authority,  identified  some  of  the  vertebrae  as  those  of  whalebone  whales. 

The  Miocene  beds  of  Gay  Head,  on  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  at  Marshfield,  Mass.,  are 
the  most  northerly  strata  of  this  age  yet  discovered  on  the  eastern  American  coast.  They 
lie  unconformably  upon  the  pre-Tertiary  deposits,  and  "consist  of  two  members  which  are 
strikingly  different  from  each  other  in  their  lithologic  composition.  The  lower  member, 
the  so-called  'osseous  conglomerate'  of  Hitchcock,  is  a  bed  from  12  to  18  inches  thick.  It 
is  composed  of  medium  sized  pebbles  of  quartz,  chert,  calcedony  and  fragments  of  cetacean 
bones.  The  presence  of  these  bones  in  the  formation  suggested  the  name  'osseous  con- 
glomerate.' The  upper  member  which  lies  immediately  above  the  osseous  conglomerate,  is  a 
bed  of  greensand  which  varies  in  thickness  from  nothing  to  10  feet.  At  its  base  it  carries 
rolled  fragments  of  the  under-lying  stratum,  showing  that  it  was  deposited  unconformably  on 
the  osseous  conglomerate"  (W.  B.  Clark,  Maryland  Geol.  Surv.,  Miocene,  1904,  p.  Ixv). 

At  Marshfield,  near  Duxbury,  Mass.,  these  same  beds  again  appear,  with  their  associated 
fossils.  Dr.  C.  T.  Jackson,  in  1850,  called  attention  to  this  discovery,  and  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Society  on  August  7th,  of  that  year,  announced  that  he  had  received  from  this  deposit  "a  shark's 
tooth,  a  cetacean  vertebra,  Lignite,  and  a  cast  of  Tellina."  They  were  obtained  from  "a  clay 
marl,  over  a  green  sand,  thirty  feet  from  the  surface;  they  were  precisely  like  those  found  at 
Gay  Head."  2 

Indian  Myth  of  their  Origin. 

The  Indians  of  Martha's  Vineyard  had  no  doubt  been  long  familiar  with  these  bones  that 
washed  from  the  cliffs,  and  had  a  legend  to  account  for  them,  and  other  whale  bones  washed 
up.  Baylies,  who  visited  the  locality  in  1793,  preserves  their  story  as  told  him  by  them.  He 
wrote,  in  part,  "In  former  times,  the  Indian  God,  Moiship,  resided  in  this  part  of  the  island; 
and  made  the  crater,  described  above,  [the  Devil's  Den]  his  principal  seat.  To  keep  up  his 
fires,  he  pulled  up  the  largest  trees  by  the  roots;  on  which,  to  satisfy  his  hunger,  he  broiled 
the  whale,  and  the  great  fish  of  the  sea,  throwing  out  the  refuse  sufficient  to  cover  several 
acres.  He  did  not  consume  all  himself;  but  with  a  benevolent  hand,  often  supplied  them  [the 

1  Baylies,  William.     Description  of  Gay  Head.     Mem.  Amer.  Acad.  Arts  and  Sci.,  1793,  vol.  2,  p.  155. 

2  Jackson,  C.  T.     Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  1850,  vol.  3,  p.  324. 


284  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Indians]  with  food  ready  cooked.  To  facilitate  the  catching  these  fish,  he  threw  many  large 
stones,  at  proper  distances,  into  the  sea,  [these  formed  the  Elizabeth  Islands]  on  which  he 

might  walk  with  greater  ease  to  himself When  the  Christian  religion  took  place  in  the 

island,  he  told  them,  as  light  had  come  among  them,  and  he  belonged  to  the  kingdom  of 
darkness,  he  must  take  his  leave;  which,  to  their  great  sorrow,  he  accordingly  did;  and  has 
never  been  heard  of  since." 

Age  of  the  Fossils. 

How  long  ago  these  ancient  whales  lived  in  the  waters  off  our  coast  is  in  large  part  a  matter 
of  conjecture.  Geologists  have  made  a  number  of  calculations,  based  on  the  known  or  esti- 
mated rates  of  deposit  and  erosion,  in  an  endeavor  to  arrive  at  some  idea  of  the  age  of  the 
Tertiary  deposits.  The  Miocene  strata  at  Gay  Head,  it  is  believed,  were  laid  down  perhaps 
two  million  years  ago  —  certainly  a  vast  lapse  of  time.  Yet  the  vertebral  bones  of  these  whales 
are  hardly  to  be  differentiated  from  those  of  living  species.  But  this  is  perhaps  less  to  be 
wondered  at,  since  whales  breed  slowly  and  have  usually  but  one  young  at  a  birth,  so  that 
opportunity  for  the  evolution  and  transmission  of  differential  characters  is  decreased. 

Miocene  Conditions. 

Of  the  habits  and  nature  of  this  extinct  Rorqual  we  can  only  conjecture.  According  to 
Dall  (Maryland  Geol.  Surv.,  Miocene,  1904,  p.  cxlii),  a  comparison  of  the  fossil  mollusks  from 
the  deposits  of  this  period  shows  that  they  comprised  for  the  most  part  species  characteristic 
of  more  boreal  waters  than  those  of  the  earliest  Tertiary  times  that  preceded.  "Some modi- 
fication of  the  coast  line  or  sea-bottom,  supposedly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Carolinas  or  possibly 
connected  with  the  elevation  of  the  Antilles,  diverted  the  warm  currents  corresponding  to  the 
present  Gulf  Stream  so  far  off-shore  in  the  early  part  of  the  Miocene  as  to  permit  of  the  invasion 
of  the  southern  coast  lines  by  a  current  of  cold  water  from  the  north,  bringing  with  it  its  appro- 
priate fauna  and  driving  southward  or  exterminating  the  pre-existent  subtropical  marine 
fauna  of  these  shores.  This  resulted  in  the  most  marked  faunal  change  which  is  revealed  by 
the  fossil  faunas  of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  America  subsequent  to  the  Cretaceous.  A  cool-tem- 
perate fauna  for  the  time  replaced  the  subtropical  one  normal  to  these  latitudes,  and  has  left 
its  traces  on  the  margin  of  the  continent  from  Martha's  Vineyard  Island  in  Massachusetts 
south  to  Fort  Worth  inlet  in  East  Florida,  and  westward  to  the  border  of  the  then  existing 
Mississippi  embayment.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  limit  of  effectual  invasion  by  the  north- 
ern marine  fauna." 

Probably  then,  these  Balaenopterae  lived  in  the  moderately  cool  waters  of  the  Miocene 
seas,  much  as  we  now  see  their  modern  relatives  off  Newfoundland.  How  far  to  the  south 


FOSSIL  FINBACK  OF  GAY  HEAD.  285 

they  ranged  is  yet  to  be  discovered,  but  no  doubt  they  were  commonest  in  the  near-shore  waters 
as  far  at  least  as  the  present  Carolina  coast.  Associated  with  the  whale  bones,  have  been 
found  remains  of  a  walrus  similar  to  the  existing  species,  a  fact  that  further  indicates  somewhat 
boreal  conditions. 

Economic  Value  of  the  Bone-bearing  Strata. 

The  possible  commercial  value  of  the  bone-containing  beds  at  Gay  Head  is  commented 
on  by  Shaler  (7th  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Surv.,  1888,  p.  357).  The  fragments  of  bone,  are  so 
intermixed  with  quartz  pebbles,  that  it  seems  doubtful  if  the  beds  can  be  advantageously 
worked  for  the  production  of  phosphates.  He  adds:  "One  of  the  most  promising  portions 
of  this  section  lies  at  the  northern  end  of  that  part  of  Gay  Head  escarpment  which  faces  about 
west  It  is  about  one  hundred  feet  in  thickness  and  consists  of  dark  greenish-gray  sands  and 
clay,  which  in  part  are  somewhat  oolitic  in  structure.  These  beds  contain  a  considerable 
quantity  of  cetacean  bones.  They  also  contain  a  certain  amount  of  phosphatic  nodules  which 
vary  in  size  from  a  tenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter  up  to  five  or  six  inches  .....  Both  the  nodules 
and  the  fragments  of  bone,  as  remarked  by  Dr.  Hitchcock,  have  probably  been  derived  from 
pre-existing  strata,  the  debris  of  which  makes  up  this  part  of  the  section."  Professor  Shaler 
gives  the  following  chemical  analysis  of  the  fossil  cetacean  bones: 


Phosphoric  acid  (PzOj)  ..  27.80 
Carbonic  acid  (CO2)  ......  3.28 

Lime(CaO)  ............  27.21 

Potash  (K2O)  ............  0.97 

SodaCNa/))  .............  0.56 


Descriptions. 

Cope's  original  description  of  Balaenopiera  sursiplana,  has  to  do  with  the  tympanic  bone 
of  the  ear  only,  which,  he  wrote,  differs  from  that  of  other  species  of  the  genus  in  the  "con- 
vexity of  the  superior  face  where  the  dense  layer  or  lip  has  a  different  chord  or  face  from  that 
of  the  space  which  separates  it  from  the  internal  longitudinal  marginal  angle.  In  the  B.  sursi- 
plana there  is  but  one  superior  plane  from  the  eustachian  orifice  to  the  internal  edge,  which  is 
absolutely  flat.  In  all  these  spexues  also  the  dense  layer  of  the  lip  is  reflected  on  the  superior 
edge  of  the  external  thin  wall  at  its  anterior  end.  In  the  present  species  this  layer  is  reflected 
in  a  very  narrow  strip  underneath  the  free  border,  which  overhangs  it.  In  all  these  species  also 
the  anterior  extremity,  as  viewed  from  above  or  below,  is  angulate,  the  angle  marking  the  end 
of  the  inner  border  of  the  dense  layer  or  lip.  In  B.  sursiplana  the  anterior  extremity,  viewed 
in  the  same  way,  is  truncate.  The  species  which  appears  to  approach  nearest  is  the  B.  definite 
Owen  .....  In  size  this  species  is  like  that  of  the  large  Balaenopterae."  The  measurements 


286  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

of  the  tympanic  bone  are  given  as  follows  by  Cope:  axial  length,  98  mm.;  width  at  posterior 
extremity  of  anterior  hook  at  superior  border,  71;  width  at  anterior  extremity  of  orifice,  35; 
width  at  posterior  extremity  of  orifice,  53;  depth  at  middle  (circa),  55;  greatest  depth  of  lip,  38. 

A  well  preserved  centrum  (Plate  15,  fig.  10)  from  Gay  Head,  in  the  Society's  collection 
(no.  9698)  is  here  referred  provisionally  to  this  species.  It  is  probably  a  lumbar  or  a  posterior 
dorsal,  and  evidently  belonged  to  an  immature  animal  since  the  vertebral  epiphyses  had  not 
fused  to  the  centrum  and  are  lost.  The  face  of  the  centrum  is  broadly  elliptical;  the  neural 
spine  has  been  broken  off  except  for  a  fragment  of  the  base  on  each  side  between  which  the 
superior  part  of  the  vertebra  is  flattened.  The  lateral  processes  are  broken  short  off  about 
40  mm.  from  the  body  of  the  bone.  They  are  broadly  elliptical  in  section  and  rather  stout 
in  proportion  compared  with  the  Common  Finback,  directed  slightly  downward.  On  the 
ventral  side  of  the  centrum  is  a  slight  median  keel,  with  a  shallow  depression  on  each  side  of  it, 
in  the  middle  of  which  is  a  large  perforation.  The  greatest  length  of  this  centrum  is  145  mm.; 
vertical  diameter  of  centrum,  135  mm.;  transverse  diameter  of  centrum,  168  mm. 

In  the  collection  of  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  are  a  number  of  centra  from 
Gay  Head  of  various  sizes  and  belonging  evidently  to  at  least  three  if  not  four  different  genera 
of  Cetacea.  Among  these  are  three  caudal  vertebrae,  nearly  complete,  which  are  so  like  those 
of  the  modern  Balaenoptera  as  to  be  generically  identical.  The  largest  of  these  (M.  C.  Z. 
8743;  see  Plate  15,  figs.  1,  6)  is  nearly  circular  in  outline  and  is  evidently  from  the  posterior 
part  of  the  peduncle.  The  epiphyses  are  fused  to  the  body  which  indicates  an  adult  animal. 
Two  foramina  open  into  an  elliptical  pit  in  the  center  of  the  lower  side,  but  the  condition  on  the 
upper  side  is  obliterated.  This  bone  measures :  - 

Vertical  diameter 110  mm. 

Transverse  diameter 117     " 

Greatest  fore-and-aft  thickness 78      " 

Diameters  of  the  ventral  pit  about 24X17      " 

The  second  vertebra  (M.  C.  Z.  8742;  Plate  15,  figs.  2,  4,  7)  is  from  a  still  more  posterior  posi- 
tion and  though  essentially  round,  begins  to  show  a  rectangular  outline,  due  to  flattening  from 
above  and  below.  The  two  foramina  that  penetrate  it  vertically  open  one  at  each  end  of  a 
long  transverse  groove  which  is  bracket-shaped,  and  on  the  lower  side  come  together  in  a  shal- 
low pit  as  in  the  first  specimen.  The  bone  measures :  — 

Vertical  diameter 91  mm. 

Transverse  diameter 96     " 

Greatest  fore-and-aft  thickness 67      " 

Diameters  of  the  ventral  pit  about 25X26     " 

Transverse  width  of  the  dorsal  groove. 64.5  " 

The  third  vertebra  (M.  C.  Z.  3742;  Plate  15,  figs.  3,  5,  8)  must  have  come  from  near  the  end 
of  the  series,  and  is  much  more  flattened,  so  that  the  outline  is  rectangular  with  rounded  cor- 


FOSSIL  FINBACK  OF  GAY  HEAD.  287 

ners.     The  posterior  cpiphysis  is  lost.     There  is  no  ventral  pit  to  be  seen,  but  the  upper  groove 
is  similar  to  that  in  the  vertebra  just  described.     The  bone  measures:  — 

Vertical  diameter 76  mm. 

Transverse  diameter 88     " 

Greatest  fore-and-aft  thickness 48     " 

Transverse  width  of  dorsal  groove 68     " 

The  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  contains  also  a  fragment  of  a  cetacean  rib  which 
I  would  refer  with  little  hesitation  to  the  genus  Balaenoptera,  and  to  the  same  species  repre- 
sented by  the  terminal  bones  of  the  spinal  column.  This  fragment  (no.  8744;  Plate  15,  fig.  9) 
is  from  near  the  upper  part  of  the  rib,  where  it  curves  to  articulate  with  the  transverse  process 
of  the  vertebra.  It  is  about  210  mm.  long,  and  80  mm.  in  diameter  across  its  broader  end. 
It  is  much  flattened  and  has  on  one  surface  a  broad  shallow  groove  running  along  its  length 
as  in  the  living  Balaenoptera.  In  the  modern  Right  and  Sperm  Whales,  the  ribs  are  much 
more  rounded  and  stouter,  without  this  groove.  In  section,  the  fragment  is  triangular  at  the 
proximal  end  where  the  head  of  the  rib  begins  to  take  shape;  at  the  other  end  it  is  more  nearly 
oval  in  section,  35  mm.  in  diameter  transversely.  Judging  from  the  shape  of  the  fragment, 
it  must  have  come  from  one  of  the  ribs  near  the  hinder  end  of  the  series. 

Acknowledgments  are  due  to  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology  for  the  privilege  of 
studying  and  recording  these  as  well  as  other  specimens  of  New  England  Cetacea  in  its 
collection. 


288  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Megaptera  nodosa  (BONNATERRE). 

ATLANTIC  HUMPBACK  WHALE. 

PLATE  11,  FIG.  5;  PLATE  1(5 

SYNONYMY. 

1777.  Balaam  gibbosa  Erxleben,  Syst.  Animalium,  p.  610  (in  part/. 

1780.  Balaena  boops  Fabricius,  Fauna  Grocnlandica,  p.  36;    (also  many  later  authors,  but  not  of  Linne,  1758, 

which  is  Balaenoptera  physalus,   young). 

1789.  Balaena  nodosa  Bonnaterre,  Tabl.  Encycloped.  et  Method,  des  trois  Regnes  de  la  Nature,  Cetologie, 

p.  5;   True,  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  1898,  vol.  21,  p.  635. 

1832.  Balaena  longimana  Rudolphi,  Abhandl.  K.  Akad.  Wiss.  Berlin,  p.  133-144,  pi.  1-5. 

1834.  Physcter  gibbosa  Dewhurst,  Nat.  Hist.  Cetacea,  p.  168. 

1837.  Balaenoptera  longimana  Rapp,  Die  Cetaceen  zoologisch-anat.  dargestellt,  p.  55. 

1845.  Balaenoptera  (Boops)  boops  Brandt,  in  Tchihatcheff's  Voyage  Sci.  dans  1'Altai  Oriental,  p.  438. 

1846.  Megaptera  longimana  Gray,  Zool.  Voyage  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  17. 
1846.  Mcgaptcron  longimana  Gray,  Zool.  Voyage  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  51. 
1846.  Megaptera  americana  Gray,  Zool.  Voyage  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  17. 
1846.  Mcgaptcron  americana  Gray,  Zool.  Voyage  Erebus  and  Terror,  Mammalia,  p.  52. 

1861.  Kyphobalaena  longimana  van  Beneden,  Mem.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  vol.  32,  art.  3,  p.  38. 

1862.  Megaptera  boops  Lilljeborg,  Upsala  Universitets  Arsskr.,  1861-62,  p.  88  (of  separate). 

1865.  \Eschrichtius  robustus  Gray,  Ann.  Mag.  Nat.  Hist.,  ser.  3,  vol.  15,  p.  493;   Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London, 

1865,  p.  40  (not  of  Lilljeborg). 

1865.  Mcgaptcron  boops  Gray,  Synopsis  Whales  and  Dolphins  British  Museum,  pi.  30  (jaws  of  a  foetus). 

1865.  M[cgaptcra]  gigas  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  p.  179  (crrorim). 

1865.  Megaptera  osphyia  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  p.  180. 

1866.  Megaptera  longimana  var.  2.  moorei  Gray,  Cat.  Seals  and  Whales  British  Museum,  ed.  2,  p.  122. 
1868.  Kyphobalaena  kcporkak  van  Beneden,  Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  2,  vol.  25,  p.  12,  footnote; 

p.  109. 

1868.    Kyphobalaena  asphyia  (sic)  van  Beneden,  Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  2,  vol.  25,  p.  117. 
1868.     Kyphobalaena  americana  van  Beneden,  Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  2,  vol.  25,  p.122. 
1871.     Megaptera  bcllicosa  Cope,  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  vol.  12,  p.  107. 
1898.     Megaptera  novae-angliae  Trouessart,  Cat.  Mamm.,  fasc.  5,  p.  10S5  (quoting  Brisson  and  Gmelin  where, 

however,  the  name  is  not  used  in  a  nomenclatorial  sense.) 

History  and  Nomenclature. 

The  Humpback  Whale  of  the  North  Atlantic  was  well  known  to  whalers  for  considerably 
more  than  a  century  before  it  was  studied  and  named  by  zoologists.  In  the  middle  or  latter 
part  of  the  17th  century  it  was  regularly  hunted  at  the  Bermudas,  and  later,  in  New  England 
waters.  Paul  Dudley,  in  his  famous  essay  of  1725,  gave  a  brief  description  of  it,  as  one  of  the 
five  species  of  whales  occurring  on  the  New  England  coast.  The  earlier  systematists  included 


PLATE  16. 
Humpback  Whale  (Megaptera  nodosa).     Drawn  by  J.  Henry  Blake  from  measurements. 


CO 

T- 

U 


(N 

d 
Z 

od 

J 

o 


X 

z 


s 

in 
K 

5 

u 
2 


i 

i 


HUMPBACK  WHALE.  289 

*  • 

this  Xc\v  England  whale  in  their  lists  of  animals  and  it  therefore  forms  the  basis  of  their  Latin 
names.  Thus  Erxleben  in  1777,  and  following  him,  Gmelin  (1788)  and  Kerr  (1792)  confuse  it 
with  the  Scrag  Whale  of  Dudley,  and  include  both  under  the  name  Balaena  gibbosa.  But 
the  Scrag  Whale  was  doubtless  Eubalaena  glacialis,  and  the  name  if  considered  recognizable, 
is  a  composite  referring  in  part  to  both  species.  Although  Fabricius,  a  Greenland  missionary 
and  author  of  the  Fauna  Groenlandica  (1780),  was  well  acquainted  with  the  species  as  it 
occurred  in  the  seas  of  southern  Greenland,  he  considered  it  the  same  as  Linne's  Balaena  boops, 
and  so  refers  to  it  in  his  work.  As  shown  by  True  (1898,  p.  624),  however,  this  name  was  based 
on  the  young  of  the  Common  Finback.  Nevertheless,  this  fact  was  not  then  appreciated,  and 
tlic  specific  name  boops  has  been  much  used  for  the  Humpback  by  later  writers.  Under  this 
name  in  1818,  Fabricius  gives  a  very  full  account  of  the  species  as  known  to  him.  He  also 
introduced  the  name  Keporkak  by  which  the  Greenland  natives  knew  it,  and  this  was  subse- 
quently used  as  a  specific  term  for  the  species.  Meanwhile,  however,  the  Abb£  Bonnaterre 
in  his  treatise  on  Cetacea,  published  in  1789,  definitely  adopted  the  name  Balaena  nodosa, 
basing  his  account  on  Dudley's  Humpback,  and  giving  as  the  known  range  "Nouvelle  Anglc- 
terre."  He  cites  other  authors,  who,  as  True  points  out,  are  likewise  wholly  indebted  to  the 
same  source.  The  name  is  therefore  the  first  post-Linnean  designation  that  can  be  un- 
equivocally applied  to  a  Humpback  Whale,  and  since  True  has  shown  that  there  is  no  ground 
for  distinguishing  the  whales  of  the  two  sides  of  the  North  Atlantic,  it  will  stand  as  the  tech- 
nical name  of  the  North  Atlantic  Humpback.  In  1832  the  German  naturalist  Rudolphi  de- 
scribed a  specimen  stranded  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  and  proposed  for  it  the  name  Balaena 
longimana  in  reference  to  the  very  long  pectorals.  This  and  Fabricius's  contribution  were  the 
first  accurate  memoirs  on  the  species,  so  that  it  is  barely  a  century  since  it  may  be  said  to  have 
been  known  to  science. 

Although  Brandt  in  1845  made  a  subgenus  Boops  for  this  whale  (preoccupied  by  Boops 
Cuvier  for  a  genus  of  fishes),  and  placed  it  in  Lacepede's  genus  Balaenoptera,  it  was  not  until 
1846  that  the  English  naturalist  J.  E.  Gray  distinguished  the  Humpbacks  as  forming  a  distinct 
genus  from  the  other  whalebone  whales,  by  reason  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  skull  and  shoulder 
blade,  lack  of  a  falcate  dorsal  fin,  and  particularly  by  the  extraordinarily  long  pectorals.  Hence 
the  generic  title  Megaptera  (M«7<*,  large,  and  irrepov,  a  wing  or  flipper);  the  specific  name 
nodosa  refers  of  course  to  the  irregular  knobs  on  the  head  and  limbs.  Eschricht,  in  1849, 
proposed  Kyphobalaena  as  a  group  name  for  the  Humpbacks,  but  this  is  antedated  by  Gray's 
generic  name.  Van  Beneden,  nevertheless,  used  Kyphobalaena  in  a  generic  sense  for  the 
Humpbacks  in  several  of  his  papers  on  Cetacea,  and  is  thus  responsible  for  sundry  combinations 
in  which  this  name  occurs.  For  Eschricht,  although  often  quoted  as  author  of  the  genus, 
nowhere  uses  it  so.  Rudolphi's  specific  term  longimana  has  long  been  current  for  the  species; 
but  Gray  in  1846  gave  the  name  americana  to  a  supposed  distinct  Humpback  from  Bermuda. 


290  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Cope,  in  1865,  described  the  skeleton  of  a  specimen  found  dead  off  Petit  Manan  Lighthouse, 
Maine,  and  believing  it  to  be  distinct,  gave  it  the  specific  name  osphyia.  This  skeleton  is  still 
preserved  in  the  Niagara  Museum.  On  similar  grounds  he  named  a  West  Indian  specimen 
M.  bellicosa  but  True  (1904)  has  shown  that  all  these  names  must  be  considered  synonyms  of 
nodosa.  Gray's  "var.  moorei"  founded  on  a  young  skeleton  in  the  Liverpool  Museum  must  be 
added  to  these,  as  the  characters  claimed  for  it  seem  to  be  mere  individual  peculiarities.  Other 
names,  generic  and  specific,  have  been  given  the  Humpbacks  of  the  Pacific  and  the  Southern 
Ocean,  but  the  true  status  of  these  supposed  forms  is  still  uncertain  and  the  names  are  not 
here  considered. 

A  fossil  Humpback  apparently  identical  with  the  living  species  has  been  reported  from 
the  Pleistocene  deposits  of  eastern  Canada.     J.  E.  Gray  also  described  in  1865  a  single  neck 
vertebra  found  in  subfossil  condition  on  the  coast  of  Devonshire,  England.     He  considered 
it  to  represent  Lilljeborg's  ^[Eschrichtius  robustus  —  a  subfossil  Finback  Whale  from  Sweden  - 
but  it  was  probably  from  a  Humpback. 

The  type  locality  of  the  North  Atlantic  Humpback  is  given  by  Bonnaterre  as  "Nouvelle 
Angleterre"  basing  his  original  description  on  Dudley's  account  of  the  New  England  Hump- 
back. 

Vernacular  Names. 

Among  the  whalemen  this  is  universally  known  as  the  Humpback  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  "Whale"  (which  commonly  meant  the  Right  Whale  on  our  coasts)  and  the  Finbacks;  hence 
the  verb  "  humpbacking  "  as  applied  to  the  local  cruises  in  pursuit  of  the  species  from  our  ports. 
Other  vernacular  names  are  mere  variants  —  thus  Dudley  speaks  of  it  as  the  "Bunch,  or 
Hump-back  Whale,"  Turton  writes  it  "Hump  Whale,"  and  Gray  and  Cope  have  rendered  it 
"Hunchbacked  Whale."  In  other  tongues  it  is  called  Buckelwal  or  Pflockfisch  in  German, 
Stubhval  in  Danish,  Baleine  a  bosse  in  French,  Knolhval  by  the  Norwegians.  All  these 
names  refer  either  to  the  large  dermal  tubercles  (Knolen)  or  to  the  small  adipose  fin  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  back,  which  is  spoken  of  by  Dudley  as  "a  Bunch  standing  in  the  Place  where 
the  Fin  does  in  the  Finback.  This  Bunch  is  as  big  as  a  Man's  Head,  and  a  Foot  High,  shaped 
like  a  Plug  pointing  backwards."  Bonnaterre's  term  "Tampon"  Whale  like  the  German 
Pflockfish  is  merely  a  translation  into  French  of  this  word  "Plug."  Eschricht  suggests  that 
the  name  Humpback  is  derived  from  the  rounded  appearance  of  the  animal  as  it  dives.  The 
native  name  Keporkak  of  the  Greenlanders  was  first  introduced  into  scientific  literature  by 
O.  Fabricius  in  1780,  and  is  found  in  works  of  later  writers. 


HfMlT..\(  K  WIIALK. 


291 


Description. 

Form. —  The  body  is  rather  short  and  robust  in  comparison  with  the  Fin  Whales,  and 
the  peduncle  too  seems  shorter  in  proportion.  The  throat  folds,  extending  from  the  lower 
margin  of  the  jaws  back  to  the  region  of  the  navel,  are  fewer  and  much  farther  apart  than  in 
the  gi'iius  Balaenoptera.  In  three  Newfoundland  specimens,  True  found  the  number  of  these 
folds  to  be  14,  20,  and  22  respectively  between  the  pectoral  fins,  and  the  widest  were  from  5 
to  8  inches.  A  fold  or  two  is  present  at  the  corner  of  the  mouth,  passing  to  the  pectoral,  back 
of  which  may  be  two  or  three  short  transverse  furrows.  As  in  the  Fin  Whales,  the  folds  on 
the  throat  anastomose  in  some  degree.  Thus  a  fold  from  the  lip  may  unite  with  a  second  or 
it  may  itself  bifurcate,  forming  two;  others  run  continuously  from  the  lower  margin  of  the 
ramus  to  the  abdomen.  The  most  median  folds  do  not  end  at  the  point  of  the  jaw  but  a  slight 
distance  back  from  it,  forming  there  a  slight  eminence  or  "chin"  (as  Struthers  puts  it). 

A  characteristic  of  the  Humpback  is  a  series  of  dermal  tubercles  on  the  rostrum  and  jaws 
(True's  plate,  1904,  Plate  41,  shows  them  well).  There  is  much  variation  in  the  number 
of  these,  but  on  the  snout  they  are  arranged  in  three  rows:  a  median  row  of  usually  about 
five  to  seven  extending  from  the  blowholes  to  the  snout,  and  a  lateral  row  of  from  eight  to 
thirteen  on  each  margin  of  the  upper  jaw,  commencing  slightly  in  advance  of  the  angle  of  the 
mouth.  On  the  lower  jaw  is  a  distinct  group  of  tubercles  on  each  side  of  the  symphysis,  and 
an  irregular  series  of  a  dozen  or  more  along  the  side  of  each  mandible,  often  in  a  more  or  less 
double  series. 

The  blowholes  are  situated  on  a  slight  eminence  at  the  vertex  of  the  head.  In  shape  they 
are  a  little  convex  toward  each  other  and  converge  anteriorly.  There  is  a  median  linear  de- 
pression about  an  inch  deep  between  them. 

In  a  specimen  hauled  ashore  and  resting  on  its  belly,  there  is  seen  to  be  a  distinct  depres- 
sion at  the  neck. 

The  pectoral  fin  is  of  extraordinary  length  and  flexibility.  It  is  longer  than  that  of  any 
other  whale,  from  30  to  36%  of  the  total  length.  The  anterior  outline  is  gently  convex,  with 
a  recurved  tip;  the  posterior  margin  is  similar,  becoming  concave  at  the  tip.  The  anterior 
margin  has  a  series  of  eight  prominent  knobs,  corresponding  to  the  carpal  joint  and  the  joints 
of  the  phalanges  of  the  short  first  and  long  second  bony  fingers.  The  knobs  corresponding 
to  the  base  and  the  tip  of  the  first  finger  of  the  skeleton  are  largest.  Between  them  are  two 
smaller  knobs,  and  distal  to  the  second  big  knob,  are  the  four  remaining.  There  are  a  few 
smaller  protuberances  at  the  tip  on  the  posterior  margin  as  well. 

The  dorsal  fin  of  the  Humpback,  though  subject  to  considerable  variation  in  shape  and 
size,  is  in  reality  not  very  different  in  form  from  that  of  the  Finbacks,  though  commonly  rather 
less  falcate,  more  ridge-like,  and  truncate  posteriorly,  not  like  a  hump  as  might  be  thought. 


292  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

An  excellent  photograph  of  two  living  Pacific  Humpbacks  in  which  the  extremes  of  form  in 
the  dorsal  fin  are  shown,  is  published  by  Andrews  (1909,  Plate  34,  fig.  2). 

The  flukes  are  rather  broad,  and  set  at  an  angle  of  nearly  45  degrees  to  the  axis  of  the  body. 
Posteriorly  there  is  a  deep  median  V-shaped  notch  as  in  the  Fin  Whales.  The  hinder  margin  is 
remarkable  for  its  toothed  or  serrate  appearance,  due  to  irregular  projections,  of  which  the 
longest  are  along  the  terminal  half.  These  suggest  by  their  appearance  some  injury  to  the  edge 
of  the  flukes,  but  are  in  reality  wholly  normal,  since  they  are  present  in  a  large-sized  foetus. 

The  outline  of  the  caudal  peduncle  is  broken  by  a  rounded  protuberance  just  behind  the 
anus,  terminating  in  a  deep  transverse  groove,  and  succeeded  by  a  second  compressed  elevation. 
Anterior  to  the  anus  in  both  sexes  is  a  rounded  elevation,  which  in  the  male,  contains  the  penis 
(True). 

Struthers  describes  well  developed  nipples  in  a  male  specimen,  situated  one  on  each  side, 
a  foot  and  a  half  behind  the  preputial  opening  and  two  feet  in  front  of  the  anus.  Each  is 
enclosed  within  a  shallow  pouch  whose  opening  is  protected  by  a  soft  fleshy  projection. 

The  ear  opening  is  a  small  hole,  rather  ovoid  in  shape,  and  about  large  enough  to  admit 
"a  rather  small-sized  uncut  goose-quill"  (Struthers).  In  the  specimen  described  by  Struthers 
it  was  situated  "17  inches  behind  the  posterior  canthus  of  the  eye-lids,  and  2  to  3  inches 
below  the  level  of  the  eye." 

Vestiges  of  Teeth. —  In  a  foetus  35  inches  long,  Eschricht  (1849,  Plate  4)  has  described 
and  figured  the  vestigial  teeth,  which  are  arranged  as  in  the  toothed  whales,  in  a  long  series  in 
each  jaw.  They  are  small  and  bluntly  conical,  28  on  a  side  in  the  upper  jaw,  42  on  each  side 
in  the  lower  (in  a  45-inch  specimen)  and  in  some  cases  were  double-rooted.  These  are  all 
that  remain  of  a  once  functional  set  of  simple  teeth,  and  indicate  the  derivation  of  this  and 
other  whalebone  whales  from  toothed  whales.  These  embryonal  teeth  are  resorbed  and  dis- 
appear before  birth. 

Weight. —  There  are  very  few  data  as  to  the  weight  of  these  great  mammals.  Goodall 
(1913)  writing  of  the  Humpback  Whale  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  says  that  the  whalemen  reckon 
its  weight  as  approximately  a  ton  for  each  foot  of  length,  so  that  a  45-foot  whale  would  weigh 
about  45  tons.  The  basis  of  this  computation  is  not  related,  but  it  may  be  a  too  liberal  allow- 
ance. Guldberg  (1907)  has  tried  to  compute  the  weight  by  considering  the  body  of  the  whale 
as  similar  to  a  solid  composed  of  two  cones  base  to  base,  of  which  the  combined  length  and 
greatest  diameter  are  to  be  measured  and  the  volume,  and  thus  the  weight,  obtained  by  a  mathe- 
matical formula.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  whale  is  considered  the  same  as  that  of  water. 
This  computation  gives  a  weight  of  about  18  tons  for  a  40-foot  Humpback  ( =  18,283  kilograms), 
which  is  of  course  approximate  only.  A  newly-born  calf,  taken  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  is  said 
by  Goodall  (1913)  to  have  measured  16  feet  in  length  and  to  have  weighed  two  tons. 

Color. —  A  young  female  taken  at  Provincetown,  Mass.,  in  1879,  is  described  by  True  as 
having  the  upper  surface  of  the  head,  body,  and  flukes  black;  "  the  upper  surface  of  the  pectoral, 


HUMPBACK  WHALE.  293 

white,  with  a  black  mark  extending  along  the  axis  from  the  root  about  half  way  to  the  tip, 
but  not  wide  enough  to  reach  the  margins  of  the  fin";  the  lower  surface  of  the  pectorals  was 
similarly  colored  and  the  posterior  margin  was  irregularly  marked  with  black.  Each  lobe 
of  the  flukes  below  had  a  large  central  white  area,  surrounded  by  a  broad  black  border.  The 
lower  side  of  the  body  is  usually  black,  more  or  less  marbled  with  white  on  the  throat  and 
breast.  Furrows  on  the  belly  light  purplish  flesh  color. 

Variations  from  this  pattern  are  due  to  the  greater  or  less  amount  of  white,  and  this 
generally  on  the  lower  surfaces.  The  dorsal  fin  may  be  irregularly  spotted  or  blotched  with 
white  or  its  front  or  hind  margins  may  be  white.  The  throat  and  breast  may  be  almost  wholly 
black  to  almost  all  white,  varying  in  every  individual,  but  the  belly  is  usually  black,  sometimes 
with  white  spots,  and  the  margins  of  the  jaws  are  commonly  black.  The  pectorals  are  always 
white  below,  apparently,  but  above  there  is  usually  a  basal  black  area  which  may  be  confined 
to  a  narrow  central  tongue  or  may  reach  to  the  anterior  margin  or  even  quite  across  the  base, 
and  encroach  a  trifle  on  the  lower  side  in  front.  Again  the  black  may  extend  as  a  narrow 
edging  along  the  hinder  margin  of  the  pectorals. 

Rawitz  (1900)  advances  some  evidence  for  supposing  that  the  white  breast  is  more  often 
present  in  adult  animals,  and  that  the  immature  specimens  are  more  often  black  below;  Cap- 
tain David  Gray,  an  experienced  whaler,  also  informed  Struthers  (1889,  p.  16,  foot  note)  that  in 
the  Bowhead  the  amount  of  white  below  increases  with  age. 

Hair. —  Rawitz  (1900,  p.  73)  found  one  or  two  short  bristles  on  each  of  the  dermal  tubercles 
of  the  lower  lip,  and  at  the  symphysis  a  single  bristle  at  the  summit  of  the  numerous  and  irregu- 
lar tubercles  at  this  point.  A  single  whitish  bristle  projects  from  each  of  the  double  row  of 
tubercles  on  either  side  of  the  upper  jaw.  Other  hairs  are  found  between  these  knobs,  growing 
from  wrinkles  of  the  skin.  Rarely  these  bristles  are  yellowish.  The  tubercles  probably  corre- 
spond to  the  slight  swellings  from  which  the  hairs  project  in  the  Fin  Whales,  but  in  the  latter, 
the  number  is  less  and  the  arrangement  seems  slightly  more  definite.  Where  two  hairs  grow 
from  a  single  knob,  it  seems  to  be  a  case  of  fusion  of  two  tubercles,  morphologically  distinct. 

Baleen. —  The  general  appearance  of  the  whalebone  is  dark  brown,  with  coarse  bristles 
of  a  similar  color.  True  describes  it  as  grayish  black,  the  bristles  along  the  exterior  the  same, 
but  those  towards  the  middle  of  the  mouth  paler.  These  bristles  are  about  four  to  six  inches 
long  and  form  a  matted  mass.  Often  the  anteriormost  plates  are  white  in  part,  but  this  appear- 
ance may  be  confined  to  those  of  one  side  only.  The  baleen  plates  number  about  four  hundred 
on  each  side,  and  the  longest  of  these  scarcely  exceed  two  feet.  True  found  the  longest  to  be 
22  inches  in  a  Newfoundland  whale  of  45  feet. 

External  Measurements. —  In  comparison  with  the  larger  Fin  Whales,  the  Humpback  is 
much  shorter.  Adults  of  both  sexes  probably  seldom  exceed  fifty  feet  over  all.  True  found 
47  feet  the  longest  of  those  he  measured  at  Newfoundland,  and  although  some  of  the  Norwegian 
specimens  are  said  to  have  been  larger,  he  points  out  that  these  measurements  may  be  "over 


294 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


all "  instead  of  from  tip  of  upper  jaw  to  notch  of  flukes.  An  88-foot  specimen  recorded  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  as  taken  at  Bermuda  in  1665  must  have  been 
a  very  extraordinary  animal  if  the  account  can  be  accepted,  but  the  evidence  of  later  investi- 
gations is  rather  against  it.  I  am  unable  to  add  to  the  recorded  measurements  of  the  species. 
True  (1904,  p.  222)  gives  the  following  measurements  of  a  Newfoundland  female. 

External  Measurements  of  a  Humpback  Whale. 


Ft. 

In. 

Meters 

Length,  tip  of  snout  to  notch  of  flukes 

45 

5                1.3.84 

Tip  of  snout  to  eye  (center) 

11 

2 

3.40 

"     "      "      "  posterior  insertion  of  dorsal  fin 

30 

2 

9.19 

"     "       "       "  blowhole 

8 

4 

2.54 

"  anterior  insertion  of  pectorals 

16 

0 

4.87 

"     "      "       "  axilla 

17 

0 

5.18 

Vertical  height  of  dorsal  fin 

1 

0 

0.30 

Length  of  pectoral  from  head  of  humerus 

15 

2 

4.62 

posterior  insertion 

12 

9 

3.88 

Breadth  across  flukes 

17 

4 

5.28 

From  notch  of  flukes  to  anus  (center) 

10 

11 

3.32 

"       "       "       "  clitoris 

12 

9 

3.88 

"       "       "       "  navel 

19 

0 

5.79 

Depth  of  caudal  peduncle  at  insertion  of  flukes 

3 

4 

1.01 

True  also  gives  the  proportions  in  percentages  of  total  length  of  a  female  specimen  taken 
at  Cape  Cod,  Mass.,  and  now  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum.  These  proportions  are  of  a 
younger  female  and  are  of  interest  in  comparison  with  the  adult  and  larger  animal  from  New- 
foundland, the  measurements  of  which  I  have  copied  above.  Following  are  these  percentages 
for  the  two  specimens  as  given  by  True. 


Newfound- 
land  9 

Capo  Cod 
9 

Total  length  in  feet  and  inches 

45'  5" 

32'  5.5" 

Percent  of  total  length, 

tip  of  upper  jaw  to  eye 

24.6 

21.5 

«           tt       a             tt 

• 

"    "       "        "      "  blowhole 

18.4 

18.7 

u           «       11             (i 

"    "       "        "     "  pectoral 

35.2 

28.4 

tt           tt       a             it 

"    "       "        "      "  back  of  dorsal  fin 

66.4 

70.6 

it           it       tt             it 

"      "         "           "       "   pnrnor  nf  mniitli 

•>°  fl 

u           u       11             tt 

tOIIHI     I  M     1  1  It  1  1]  [  i  ! 

length  of  pectoral  from  axilla 

28.1 

u~  .  U 

28.4 

it           tt       tt             tt 

greatest  breadth  of  pectoral 

6.1 

tt               It          It                  U 

height  of  dorsal 

2.2 

2.5 

tt            tt        tt              tt 

breadth  of  flukes,  tip  to  tip 

38.2 

27.1 

HUMPBACK  WHALE.  295 

These  percentages  show  a  general  agreement,  but  indicate  a  relatively  smaller  head  in 
proportion  to  total  length  in  the  smaller  animal.  The  only  other  striking  difference  is  in  the 
relative  breadth  of  the  flukes,  which  is  much  less  in  the  latter. 

Musculature. 

Forearm  and  Finger  Muscles. — -  Notwithstanding  the  great  size  of  the  pectoral  limbs  in 
the  Humpback,  the  muscles  of  the  forearm  and  fingers  are  actually  "not  half  the  size"  of  the 
same  muscles  in  the  Finback,  as  Struthers  has  shown.  He  found  four  of  these  muscles  devel- 
oped, the  same  four  that  are  present  in  the  Finback.  He  describes  the  flexor  carpi  ulnaris  as 
thick  and  fusiform,  not  spreading  fan-like  as  in  the  Finback  although  it  is  not  of  less  size.  Its 
origin  is  entirely  on  the  cartilaginous  olecranon,  or  elbow,  and  it  is  fleshy  for  about  half  its 
length  or  11  inches,  after  which  it  passes  into  a  tendon  of  elliptical  cross-section,  and  inserts 
into  the  proximal  border  of  the  pisiform  cartilage. 

The  flexor  digitorum  ulnaris  resembles  the  same  muscle  in  the  Finback  but  is  much  smaller. 
It  is  a  flattened  narrow  muscle,  about  1.5  inches  in  greatest  width  at  the  middle.  Its  origin 
is  from  the  ulna  and  its  long  tendon  joins  that  of  the  flexor  digitorum  radialis.  The  latter  is 
the  larger,  and  arises  from  the  ulna  as  well  as  from  the  radius.  At  about  the  junction  of  the 
middle  and  distal  thirds  of  the  forearm  its  tendon  joins  that  of  the  flexor  d.  ulnaris,  and  a  tendi-' 
nous  expansion  is  here  formed,  from  which  a  separate  tendon  runs  to  the  end  of  each  digit. 

On  the  upper  side  of  the  flipper  is  but  a  single  well  developed  muscle,  the  extensor  digitorum 
communis.  Like  the  others,  this  is  fleshy  for  but  a  short  distance  from  its  origin  at  the  proxi- 
mal portion  of  both  radius  and  ulna.  It  soon  narrows  to  a  large  tendon  which  forms  a  triangu- 
lar expansion  on  the  distal  half  of  the  carpus.  From  this  pass  off  the  four  tendons,  one  to  each 
digit.  That  to  digit  II  is  the  largest,  that  to  digit  V  the  smallest.  These  tendons  are  attached 
to  all  the  joints  of  the  phalanges,  and  serve  apparently  through  their  tension  to  give  additional 
stiffness  to  the  great  paddles. 

Pelvic  Muscles.—  Struthers  has  given  an  account  of  the  muscles  attached  to  the  ves- 
tigial pelvic  bones  and  femora.  The  relations  are  in  general  similar  to  those  in  the  Fin- 
back. "Passing  across  between  the  posterior  ends  of  the  pelvic  bones  is  the  great  interpelvic 
ligament ....  It  ties  the  pelvic  bones  together  posteriorly,  and  supports  the  crura  penis,  which 
are  involved  in  its  tissue  anteriorly,  and  entirely  rest  on  it.  Behind,  it  attaches  the  anterior 
part  of  the  levator  ani  muscle,  and  more  externally  the  inner  part  of  the  caudal  muscular  mass. 
Along  the  posterior  edge  of  the  great  ligament  is  seen  the  posterior  edge  of  the  transversus  perinei 
muscle  mostly  concealed  by  and  attached  to  the  ligament;  as  broad  and  as  thick  as  the  palm 
of  the  hand  and  6  to  8  inches  in  length  transversely.  In  the  ring  between  this  muscle  and 
the  beginning  of  the  levator  ani  muscle,  is  seen  the  retractor  penis  muscle,  rope-like,  right  and 


296  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

left,  passing  forwards  on  the  under  surface  of  the  penis."  The  vestigial  femur  has  a  small 
muscle,  the  retractor  femoris,  ensheathed  in  ligament,  and  originating  from  the  great  interpelvic 
ligament.  It  runs  to  the  head  of  the  femur,  serving  to  pull  it  backward  and  a  little  inward. 
Struthers  states  that  he  could  not  find  the  corresponding  muscle  in  the  Finback;  he  further 
points  out  that  its  action  is  opposed  by  ligamentous  connections.  There  would  seem  to  be 
little  obvious  cause  for  the  retention  of  the  femur  and  its  connections. 


Skeleton. 

(For  a  detailed  account  of  the  skeleton  see  Struthers,  1889.) 

The  skull  differs  in  many  details  from  that  of  the  Finbacks.  Compared  with  that  of  the 
Common  Finback  Whale  the  more  striking  points  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows.  It  has  a 
proportionately  shorter  and  broader  rostrum,  whose  outline  passes  basally  by  a  sweeping  curve 
into  that  of  the  sides.  The  intermaxillaries  expand  slightly  towards  the  tips,  instead  of  tapering 
evenly.  The  general  profile  of  the  skull  is  somewhat  more  curved  than  in  the  latter.  The 
shape  of  the  nasals  is  rather  characteristic:  the  two  are  produced  upward  to  a  sharp  median 
point,  but  their  free  edges  are  scarcely  notched.  There  is  also  a  slight  median  projection  of 
the  frontals  that  separates  the  two  nasals.  The  temporal  opening  is  broader,  and  the  frontals 
are  much  narrowed  laterally  instead  of  being  nearly  square,  owing  to  the  backward  trend  of 
the  anterior  border  of  the  orbital  plate.  They  thus  approach  the  condition  seen  in  the  Right 
Whale,  where  these  bones  are  greatly  narrowed.  The  huge  supraoccipital,  forming  most  of 
the  roof  and  back  of  the  brain  case,  is  narrower  instead  of  broader  than  the  condyles,  at  its  vertex, 
and  has  a  very  faint  median  ridge,  or  none,  instead  of  a  well  developed  crest.  Its  sides  converge 
regularly  to  the  summit  where  it  is  broadly  truncate;  but  in  the  Finback  they  become  nearly 
parallel  for  the  dorsal  third.  In  ventral  aspect  the  palatals  are  relatively  shorter  and  more 
rounded  at  the  ends.  The  coronoid  process  of  the  lower  jaw  is  also  less  developed. 

In  the  following  table  (p.  297)  are  given  the  cranial  measurements  of  a  Humpback  skull 
(probably  from  Cape  Cod)  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology. 

The  vertebral  formula  may  be  taken  as  C  7,  D  14,  L  (10)  or  11,  Ca  21  ==  (52)  53, 
according  to  True,  who  includes  three  New  England  specimens  in  his  reckoning.  All  agree 
as  to  the  number  of  cervical  and  of  rib-bearing  vertebrae,  but  two  have  ten  and  one  has 
eleven  lumbars,  while  the  caudals  vary  from  19  to  probably  more.  The  loss  of  the  minute 
terminal  bones  of  the  spine  often  causes  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  exact  number  of  caudals, 
but  Rudolphi  records  22,  other  writers  21  in  specimens  examined.  The  latter  probably  repre- 
sents the  normal  number. 

The  cervical  vertebrae  are  all  free  normally,  and  differ  remarkably  from  those  of  the  Fin 
Whales  in  the  reduction  of  the  processes  that  form  the  vertebrarterial  canal.  In  the  second 


HUMPBACK  WHALK. 


297 


Measurements  of  a  Humpback  Skull  (M.C.Z.  6177). 


mm. 

Ft. 

In. 

Percent  of  total 
length  of  skull 

Greatest  length  in  a  straight  line 

2000 

6 

6.7 

100 

Length  of  maxillary  on  upper  side  of  skull  (straight) 

1520 

4 

11.8 

76.0 

"  intermaxillary  "       «        "     "      "         " 

1530 

5 

0.2 

76.5 

Greatest  width  across  squamosals 

1318 

4 

3.8 

65.9 

"     of  supraoccipital 

735 

2 

4.9 

36.7 

"     across  base  of  rostrum  (in  front  of  zygomatic  proc- 

esses of  maxillaries) 

710 

2 

3.9 

35.5 

"      across  zygomatic  processes  of  maxillaries 

1215 

3 

11.8 

60.7 

Least  width  at  vertex 

190 

0 

7.5 

9.5 

Outer  edge  »f  orbital  process  of  frontal 

210 

0 

8.3 

10.5 

Inner  border  "        "            "        "       " 

495 

1 

7.5 

24.2 

Nasals,  median  length 

170 

0 

6.7 

8.5 

"       combined  width  in  front 

165  ± 

0 

6.5 

8.± 

Breadth  across  condyles 

260 

0 

10.2 

13.0 

Greatest  length  of  palatal  bones 

445 

1 

5.5 

22.2 

"        "  tympanic 

115 

0 

4.5 

5.7 

"        "  lower  jaw  (straight  line) 

2140 

7 

0.2 

107.0 

cervical  this  canal,  at  its  inception,  is  open  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the  dorsal  and  ventral 
processes  to  unite  laterally.  In  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  vertebrae  the  ventral  processes  are 
successively  reduced,  and  on  the  sixth  and  seventh  are  lacking  entirely.  In  the  Finbacks 
the  canal  is  usually  closed  throughout  the  seven  cervicals,  though  occasionally  in  the  last  one 
or  two  the  ring  is  incomplete. 

In  an  immature  specimen  from  Provincetown,  True  found  the  last  neural  spine  to  be  on  the 
40th  vertebra  and  the  last  transverse  process  on  the  38th.  (For  detailed  measurements  and 
proportions  of  the  vertebrae  see  Struthers,  1889,  p.  61,  and  True,  1904,  p.  234.) 

The  dorsal  spines  of  the  vertebrae  are  rather  narrower  in  lateral  aspect  than  in  the  Fin- 
back, with  less  tendency  to  expansion  at  their  tips.  The  transverse  processes  similarly  are 
much  loss  expanded  terminally  and  are  less  flattened. 

The  chevron  bones  are  said  to  be  only  nine  in  a  young  specimen  from  Cape  Cod  (U.  S. 
Nat.  Mus.  16252),  but  there  may  possibly  be  two  or  three  more. 

The  ribs  are  in  general  shorter  and  stouter  than  in  the  Finback,  except  the  two  first, 
which  are  actually  longer.  The  longest  rib  in  both  is  the  sixth.  Struthers  found,  further, 
that  the  degree  of  curvature  is  greater  in  the  Humpback,  thereby  giving  it  a  wider  thoracic 
cavity. 

The  sternum  is  of  characteristic  form,  thick  and  broad,  with  two  lateral  rounded  wings, 
and  a  short  posterior  portion.  Its  shape  is  subject  to  much  individval  variation,  however. 


298  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

The  first  pair  of  ribs  articulates  with  it,  one  on  each  side,  behind  the  lateral  wings.  The  articu- 
lation is  by  a  cartilaginous  band,  continuous  along  the  inner  edge  of  the  termination  of  the  rib, 
differing  from  that  of  the  Finback  in  which  the  attachment  is  by  an  anterior  and  a  posterior 
ligament. 

The  scapula  is  remarkable  for  the  complete  loss  of  its  acromion,  though  near  the  anterior 
border,  externally,  is  a  slight  ridge  that  indicates  the  location  of  the  spinous  process.  The 
coracoid  is  faintly  developed  also,  as  a  rounded  knob  at  the  anterior  border  of  the  glenoid 
cavity.  The  outline  of  the  scapula  (text-fig.  7,  p.  191)  is  further  characteristic  in  being  somewhat 
fan-like,  with  a  high  and  evenly  convex  vertebral  border.  The  posterior  outline  is  slightly 
and  rather  evenly  concave,  but  the  anterior  border  varies  from  slightly  concave  to  nearly 
straight  above  the  basal  portion,  or  towards  the  antero-dorsal  angle.  True  (1904)  shows  very 
conclusively  that  the  relative  breadth  of  the  scapula  increases  regularly  in  proportion  to  the 
length  of  the  skull. 

The  humerus  is  short  and  massive,  and  the  radius  and  ulna  are  likewise  heavily  fashioned. 
The  radius  is  much  larger  than  the  ulna,  broadly  expanded  at  the  distal  extremity,  and  nearly 
straight.  The  ulna  is  much  curved  and  is  remarkable  for  the  great  reduction  of  the  elbow  or 
olecranon,  which  in  the  Fin  Whales  is  produced  proximally  so  as  to  overlap  the  outer  edge  of 
the  humerus. 

The  carpus  consists  of  five  more  or  less  cartilaginous  elements  in  addition  to  the  large  pisi- 
form, which  stands  out  as  a  broad  expansion  on  the  ulnar  side.  These  elements  are  marked 
off  by  surface  grooves,  and  seem  not  to  ossify  till  late  in  life.  In  the  proximal  row  are  repre- 
sented (1)  the  large  ulnare  which  articulates  with  the  outer  portion  of  the  radius,  (2)  a  small 
intermedium,  and  (3)  a  radiale,  both  of  which  articulate  with  the  radius  only.  Of  the  carpalia 
but  two  are  present,  which  correspond  apparently  to  digits  II  and  IV. 

The  digits  are  four  in  number,  and  it  is  generally  considered  that  it  is  digit  I  that  is  want- 
ing but  Kukenthal's  researches  indicate  that  it  is  probably  the  third.  Hyperphalangy  is 
shown  in  digits  II  and  IV,  which  together  form  the  terminal  half  of  the  hand.  The  number  of 
phalanges  in  the  four  digits  is,  respectively,  2,  7,  6,  3,  according  to  Struthers,  but  True  gives 
for  two  Cape  Cod  specimens,  as  mounted,  2,  6,  G,  2  and  2,  7,  6,  1  respectively. 

The  pelvis  is  represented  by  a  single  three-cornered  bone  on  each  side  of  the  body,  both 
of  which  are  joined  together  by  a  thin  sheet  of  connective  tissue.  The  anterior  end,  which  is 
taken  to  represent  the  ilium  is  tapering  and  rounded.  The  posterior  end,  corresponding  to  an 
ischium  is  stouter.  Including  the  cartilages  at  each  end,  the  pelvic  bone  is  about  9.25  inches 
long.  There  appears  to  be  no  trace  remaining  of  an  acetabular  cavity  such  as  is  present  in 
the  Right  Whale  and  the  Finback. 

The  femur  is  a  very  small  nodule,  entirely  cartilaginous  in  small  specimens,  but  becoming 
ossified  in  adult  animals.  It  measured  5  inches  in  length  on  the  right  side,  3.75  inches  on  the 


HUMPBACK  WHALE.  299 

left  side  in  the  specimen  described  by  Struthers,  and  tapered  greatly  at  the  free  end.  It  is 
loosely  connected  to  the  pelvic  bone  through  short  fibrous  bands,  at  a  point  internal  to  the 
outer  angle  of  that  bone. 

Appearance  and  Actions. 

As  viewed  at  sea,  the  Humpback  has  several  characteristics  that  may  serve  for  its  iden- 
tification.    As  with  the  Rorquals,  it  rises  to  the  surface,  delivers  its  'spout'  as  the  vertex  of  the 
head  breaks  the  water,  then  as  the  blowholes  remain  widely  open  for  the  quick  inhalation,  a 
large  portion  of  the  forward  part  of  the  back  appears  momentarily.     With  the  closing  of  the 
blowholes,  the  head  is  depressed,  and  much  of  the  back  appears,  sometimes  quite  to  the  dorsal 
fin.     The  posterior  part  of  the  back  arches  slightly  as  the  head  goes  down,  the  dorsal  fin  moves 
forward  with  the  onward  course  of  the  body,  and  as  it  approaches  the  water  again,  the  whale 
sinks  beneath  the  surface  leaving  a  'slick'  or  round  area  of  smooth  water,  behind.     This  is 
the  intermediate  or  surface  dive  of  which  several  may  be  made  in  succession  as  the  whale  feeds 
among  the  plankton  currents  or  refreshes  its  lungs  after  a  longer  dive.     Millais  noted  in  one 
individual  eight,  ten,  and  twelve  of  these  shorter  dives  successively  between  the  deeper  sound- 
ings.    The  longer  dive  differs  in  that  the  whale  goes  down  in  a  nearly  perpendicular  course, 
more  of  the  posterior  part  of  the  body  appears  above  the  surface  with  the  greater  effort,  and 
the  flukes  of  the  tail  finally  rise  clear  of  the  water,  and  following  the  forward  rolling  of  the 
body,  dip  in  nearly  vertically,  looking  like  the  spread  wings  of  a  great  bird  as  they  disappear. 
In  these  deeper  dives  the  animal  may  be  under  water  for  a  number  of  minutes,  but  in  the  shal- 
low dives,  for  a  few  seconds  only.     Rawitz  (1900)  relates  that  one  which  was  slightly  wounded 
by  a  harpoon  stayed  down  for  twenty  minutes,  and  in  a  free  state  the  long  dives  were  of  about 
fifteen  minutes  duration.     A  pair  of  Humpbacks  that  I  saw  July  1,  1911,  in  the  Atlantic,  45° 
15'  N.,  37°  44'  W.,  impressed  me  as  being  most  leisurely  in  their  surface  movements.     They 
were  in  sight  from  the  steamer  for  several  moments,  swimming  at  the  surface,  so  as  to  expose 
the  entire  back  from  the  posterior  part  of  the  head  to  just  behind  the  dorsal  fin,  which  appeared 
large  and  obtusely  triangular.     At  intervals  of  about  15  seconds,  the  head  was  raised  slightly 
to  expose  the  blowholes  for  breathing,  then  after  the  spout,  the  head  was  lowered  and  the  whale 
swam  on  slowly  as  before,  with  sometimes  the  entire  back  and  dorsal  fin  exposed  or  again  with 
the  top  of  the  back  only  above  the  surface  or  just  awash.     Again  they  would  swim  along  just 
under  the  surface.     As  observed  by  other  writers,  the  body  is  but  little  arched  and  the  tail  does 
not  appear  during  the  short  surface  dives,  but  in  the  deeper  dives,  the  body  is  much  arched 
and  the  flukes  are  thrown  out  as  the  whale  goes  in  a  nearly  perpendicular  course  downward. 
A  remarkable  series  of  photographs  illustrating  the  appearance  of  the  Pacific  Humpback  in  its 
dives  and  surface  movements  has  been  published  by  R.  C.  Andrews  (1909,  Plates  30-36).     There 
seems  to  be  no  definite  number  of  spouts  between  the  long  dives.     No  doubt  this  may  depend 


300  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

in  part  on  whether  or  not  the  whale  is  feeding  and  the  depth  to  which  it  must  go  to  obtain 
food. 

The  spout  is  of  characteristic  appearance.  It  issues  as  a  single  column,  and  at  once  expands 
to  a  broad  balloon-shaped  cloud,  that  shortly  is  dissipated  in  the  air.  This  is  quite  different 
from  the  high  narrow  column  of  the  larger  Rorquals.  Andrews  (1909)  considers  that  fifteen 
feet  is  a  maximum  height  and  ordinarily  it  seems  less.  The  sound  produced  by  the  expulsion 
of  the  breath  is  described  as  a  "metallic  whistling"  (Andrews)  and  Rawitz  (1900)  even  supposes 
that  this  sound  may  be  modulated  so  as  to  produce  several  different  tones,  but  it  may  be  doubted 
if  this  is  an  effect  consciously  produced,  as  that  author  seems  to  think.  Racovitza  (1903), 
who  several  times  in  the  Antarctic  seas  stood  almost  over  a  Humpback  spouting  at  the  side 
of  the  vessel,  testifies  that  the  breath  of  the  huge  creature  possesses  a  very  nauseating  odor, 
due  possibly  to  mucous  secretion  of  the  nasal  passages.  Goodall  (1913)  who  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  seeing  a  wounded  Humpback  blow  at  a  distance  of  about  twenty  feet,  describes  the  fleshy 
ridge  at  either  side  of  the  blowholes  as  resembling  lips.  "In  the  act  of  expiration  these  'lips' 
are  erected  on  either  side,  and  then  directly  after  the  inspiration  they  fall  over  the  openings, 
and  thus  effectually  close  them." 

Besides  these  characteristic  movements  accompanying  the  breathing  and  diving  actions, 
the  Humpback  is  noted  for  its  lively  manners  in  what  seems  to  be  play  or  excitement.  Often 
they  will  thrust  a  large  portion  of  the  head  obliquely  out  of  the  water.  At  other  times,  they 
turn  on  their  side  and  show  the  pectoral  fin  or  a  fluke  of  the  tail  above  water,  especially  in 
feeding.  Rawitz  states  that  in  closing  the  huge  mouth  while  feeding,  the  Humpback  turns 
nearly  over  on  its  back,  but  Andrews  does  not  corroborate  this  statement.  At  times  this  whale 
will  thrust  the  flukes  and  a  portion  of  the  peduncle  above  the  surface,  and  thrash  the  water  into 
foam  with  powerful  strokes,  or  the  movement  is  less  active  (Andrews,  1909).  This  is  the  so- 
called  'lob-tailing.'  More  interesting  still  is  the  remarkable  habit  of  jumping  or  'breaching.' 
Andrews  (1909)  has  lately  observed  these  movements  in  the  Pacific  Humpback.  He  states 
that  the  whale  usually  emerges  from  the  water  in  a  nearly  vertical  position,  coming  out  clear, 
so  as  to  show  even  the  tips  of  the  flukes  and  invariably  falls  back  upon  its  side  with  a  great 
splash.  Struthers  (1889)  writing  of  the  Humpback  killed  in  the  Firth  of  Tay,  Scotland,  says 
that  it  rose,  seemingly  for  two  thirds  of  its  length  almost  perpendicularly  out  of  the  water, 
flapped  its  enormous  paddles,  and  then  fell  to  one  side.  This  it  once  did  thrice  in  succession. 
At  other  times  very  little  of  this  activity  is  shown,  but  the  animals  behave  as  calmly  as  a  Fin- 
back. The  tremendous  size  of  the  pectoral  fins  suggests  some  special  use.  It  may  be  that 
they  are  used  in  swimming  to  propel  the  body,  when,  for  example,  the  tail  is  above  the  surface. 
An  analogy  is  suggested  among  the  seals.  For  whereas  the  Harbor  Seal  with  its  short  fore 
flippers,  uses  the  hinder  extremities  for  propulsion,  the  Sea  Lion  with  its  long  fore  limbs  uses 
these  instead,  to  row  itself  about.  Observations  on  the  use  of  the  fore  limbs  in  the  Hump- 


HUMPBACK  WHALE.  301 

back  are  lacking,  however.  Rawitz  (1900)  supposes  that  the  greater  length  of  the  paddles  as 
compared  with  those  of  the  Finbacks  is  an  adaptation  for  turning  the  more  unwieldy  and  slower- 
inoving  animal  on  its  hack,  as  it  closes  its  jaws,  but  this  seems  unlikely. 

The  Whale  and  Swordfish  Story. —  The  active  movements  of  this  species,  when  seen  by 
the  casual  traveller  at  sea,  are  often  mistaken  for  signs  of  a  great  conflict  between  sea  monsters. 
Thus  in  our  daily  papers  of  late  years  it  has  become  an  almost  regular  feature  of  the  early 
summer  news  to  include  a  vivid  account  of  a  terrific  battle  viewed  by  the  astonished  passengers 
of  some  incoming  steamer,  in  which  the  combatants  are  a  whale  and  a  swordfish.  The  honors 
of  war  are  usually  accorded  to  the  latter,  though  occasionally  the  outcome  is  left  uncertain. 
No  doubt  some  of  these  tales  have  a  basis  of  fact,  and  though  reported  in  good  faith,  owe  their 
inaccuracy  to  faulty  observation.  Such  was  probably  the  case  with  an  account  published  in 
the  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  89,  no.  52,  June  26,  1909),  which,  as  a  sample  of  the 
'whale  and  swordfish'  story,  may  be  quoted  in  full.  "A  remarkable  fight  between  monsters 
of  the  sea  was  witnessed  by  the  passengers  and  crew  of  the  steamer  Esparla,  which  arrived  at 
Boston  from  Port  Limon,  Costa  Rica,  on  Monday. 

"The  thrilling  battle  occurred  south  of  Nantucket  South  Shoal  lightship,  between  a  whale 
and  another  great  fish  believed  to  be  a  swordfish.  The  whale  was  vanquished. 

"The  whale  was  the  only  one  of  the  two  fighters  visible  to  the  passengers  and  crew.  The 
great  mammal  lashed  its  tail  violently,  churning  the  waters  into  a  mass  of  foam,  while  it  was 
believed  to  be  attacking  the  swordfish  with  its  teeth.  Several  irregular  plunges  appeared  to 
indicate  a  successful  plunge  by  the  fish  beneath  and  finally  the  great  whale  was  seen  to  throw 
its  massive  bulk  clear  of  the  water  and  then  sink  from  sight.  The  water  for  a  considerable 
distance  about  was  dyed  red  with  the  blood,  and  it  was  believed  the  whale  had  received  a  mortal 
wound." 

Several  points  at  once  appear  wherein  the  facts  given  do  not  bear  out  the  conclusions. 
"The  whale  was  the  only  one  of  the  two  fighters  visible,"  we  are  told,  so  that  the  main  reason 
for  assuming  there  was  a  fight  at  all  was  simply  the  active  movement  of  the  whale,  which  after 
a  violent  bit  of  'lobtailing'  finally  leaped  clear  of  the  water  and  disappeared.  Probably  the 
real  explanation  of  ther  whole  occurrence,  as  first  suggested  by  Scammon,  is  that  a  playful 
Humpback  Whale  was  seen  going  through  various  antics  after  the  habit  of  its  kind,  'finning,' 
'lobtailing'  and  'breaching,'  as  described  previously.  To  one  ignorant  of  the  habits  of  the 
Humpback,  such  agile  movements  on  the  part  of  so  great  a  creature  might  easily  seem  to 
be  the  accompaniment  of  some  terrific  conflict  with  an  unseen  foe.  The  seas  "dyed  red  with- 
blood,"  if  not  the  result  of  an  overwrought  imagination,  might  be  in  part  due  to  the  presence 
of  multitudes  of  the  minute  red  crustaceans  on  which  the  whale  feeds. 

A  few  years  ago  the  Boston  Transcript  printed  a  like  report  of  a  "sea  battle"  witnessed 
by  passengers  on  the  steamship  Cymric  when  about  a  day's  run  from  Boston.  In  this  case  the 


302  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

two  combatants  were  "an  enormous  whale  and  a  thresher."  "The  whale  could  be  seen  to  dive 
in  the  attempt  to  escape  his  tormentor,  but  the  thresher  was  on  him  with  agile  leaps  at  every 
reappearance,  and  the  water  for  yards  around  was  stained  with  blood."  The  grain  of  truth 
in  this  and  similar  stories  may  be  again  the  active  movements  of  a  Humpback  Whale  seen  none 
too  well  by  undiscriminating  voyagers.  Possibly,  too,  the  attacker  was  a  Killer  Whale  (Orcinus) 
and  I  suspect  this  may  have  been  the  case  also  in  regard  to  an  account  given  me  in  the  Bahama 
Islands,  1904,  by  a  friend  who  reported  that  the  Resident  Justice  of  Governor's  Harbor,  Eleu- 
thera,  had  witnessed  an  encounter  near  that  place,  between  a  whale  and  a  swordfish.  The 
fierce  Orca  or  Killer  Whale  is  often  called  'sword .fish'  (Norwegian  'sverdfisk')  on  account  of 
its  high  dorsal  fin,  and  is  known  at  times  to  attack  the  larger  whales.  Although  I  have  seen 
no  trustworthy  account  of  such  a  case,  it  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  the  true  swordfish  (Xiphias) 
may  not  occasionally  attack  a  whale.  Thus  a  writer  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London,  in  1700  (see  Abridgement,  1722,  vol.  2,  p.  843)  in  recording  a  dead 
Sperm  Whale,  cast  on  the  New  England  coast,  concludes  that  "it  is  not  very  improbable  but 
that  it  may  have  been  kill'd  by  a  certain  Horny  Fish,  which  is  said  by  Mr.  Terrey,  in  his  East- 
Indian  Voyage,  to  run  his  Horn  into  the  Whale's  Belly;  and  which  is  known  sometimes  to  run 
his  Horn  into  Ships,  perhaps  taking  them  for  Whales,  and  there  snapping  it  asunder,  as  hap- 
pened not  long  since  to  an  English  Vessel  in  the  West-Indian  Seas."  That  the  swordfish  will 
occasionally  pierce  the  bottom  of  a  pursuing  boat  is  well  known. 

But  tradition  is  old  on  this  subject.  Bartholomew  Anglicus,  a  Franciscan  of  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  wrote  a  treatise  De  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  to  explain  the  allusions 
to  natural  objects  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures.  The  sources  of  information  for  natural  history 
were  Aristotle  and  Pliny,  and  the  work  was  one  of  the  most  widely  read  of  mediaeval  times. 
His  version  reads:  "Also  Jorath  saith,  that  against  the  whale  fighteth  a  fish  of  serpent's  kind, 
and  is  venomous  as  a  crocodile.  And  then  other  fish  come  to  the  whale's  tail,  and  if  the  whale 
be  overcome  the  other  fish  die.  And  if  the  venomous  fish  may  not  overcome  the  whale,  then 
he  throweth  out  of  his  jaws  into  the  water  a  fumous  smell  most  stinking.  And  the  whale 
throweth  out  of  his  mouth  a  sweet  smelling  smoke,  and  putteth  off  the  stinking  smell,  and 
defendeth  and  saveth  himself  and  his  in  that  manner  wise."  The  "sweet  smelling  smoke" 
was  perhaps  the  spout. 

Voice. —  Rawitz  (1900)  affirms  that  he  was  able  to  distinguish  several  different  tones 
in  the  noise  made  by  the  spouting  Humpback,  due  as  he  supposes,  to  the  degree  of  tension 
stretching  the  nostrils  as  the  breath  is  expelled.  He  believes  that  these  different  tones  cor- 
respond to  a  voice,  but  the  whole  matter  is  much  too  uncertain  to  be  accepted  as  established. 
A  recent  writer  (F.  A.  Fenger,  1913,  p.  671)  testifies  to  a  distinct  sound  produced  as  the  Hump- 
back rises  through  the  water  to  the  surface.  When  waiting  for  the  appearance  of  a  large  bull 
Humpback,  which  was  being  pursued  in  an  open  boat  among  the  Grenadines,  "a  low  humming" 


HUMPBACK  WHALE.  303 

tree  heard  which  the  whalers  at  once  recognized  as  made  by  the  animal.  This  author  writes 
that  it  was  clearly  audible  on  placing  his  ear  against  the  planking  of  the  boat  as  "a  distinct 
note  like  the  low  tone  of  a  'cello."  It  ceased  abruptly  as  the  whale  broke  water.  A  some- 
what similar  sound  is  said  to  be  produced  by  the  White  Porpoise  (Delphinapterus).  There 
seems  little  likelihood  that  the  sound  is  a  conscious  vocal  utterance,  but  may  be  produced 
involuntarily  through  the  effort  of  retaining  the  breath.  Pulsations  or  vibrations  thus  caused, 
might  be  communicated  in  some  way  to  the  boat  as  a  resonator. 

Accompanying  Vessels. —  Moseley  (1879)  in  his  Notes  by  a  Naturalist  on  the  Challenger, 
s] >eaks  of  a  Humpback  Whale  that  followed  the  vessel  for  several  days  in  the  South  Pacific. 
Rear-Admiral  John  Schouler,  U.  S.  N.,  informs  me  of  a  similar  instance,  where  a  large  whale 
of  unknown  species  accompanied  his  vessel  from  St.  Paul's  Island  to  the  Brazilian  coast,  and 
was  daily  seen  in  constant  attendance  off  the  quarter  or  abeam.  In  Hakluyt's  Voyages  is 
a  relation  by  Richard  Fisher  of  the  voyage  of  the  ship  Marigold  to  Cape  Breton  in  which  a  whale, 
perhaps  a  Humpback  or  a  Finback,  attached  itself  to  the  explorers'  vessel  and  kept  it  company 
for  several  days  off  southern  Newfoundland.  This  incident  is  told  in  the  quaint  language 
of  the  time  as  follows.  "One  thing  very  strange  hapened  in  this  voyage:  to  witte,  that  a 
mightie  great  whale  followed  our  shippe  by  the  space  of  many  dayes  as  we  passed  by  Cape 
Razo  [Cape  Race,  Newfoundland],  which  by  no  meanes  wee  could  chase  from  our  ship,  untill 
one  of  our  men  fell  overboard  and  was  drowned,  after  which  time  shee  immediately  forsooke 
us,  and  never  afterward  appeared  unto  us."  Moseley  believes  that  when  porpoises  or  whales 
accompany  a  ship  in  this  manner,  they  "think  they  are  attending  a  larger  whale." 

Food. 

So  far  as  known,  the  Humpback  feeds  chiefly  on  the  pelagic  crustaceans,  Thysanoessa 
inermis  and  probably  Meganyctiphanes,  which  it  engulfs  in  quantities  as  it  swims  about  in 
the  plankton  currents.  According  to  Rawitz,  it  often  turns  more  or  less  completely  on  its 
back  when  it  closes  its  mouth  in  feeding  on  these  small  shrimp-like  animals,  but  this  is  not 
always  the  case.  It  is  probable  that  small  fish  form  a  part  of  the  diet  but  exact  observations 
are  meager  on  this  point.  Guldberg  (1887)  states  that  on  the  Norwegian  coasts  they  follow 
the  great  schools  of  capelin  (Mallotus)  that  come  inshore  to  spawn,  and  the  same  fish  is  eaten 
in  the  Newfoundland  and  Labrador  waters  where  it  abounds  in  summer.  There  seems  to  be 
no  evidence  that  the  Humpback  eats  herrings  on  our  coast.  Andrews  (1909,  p.  221)  records 
of  the  Pacific  Humpback  (M.  versabilis)  that  one  killed  in  Alaskan  waters  contained  "a  great 
quantity  of  codfish  (probably  Gadus  macrocephalus) ,  the  largest  being  about  sixteen  inches  in 

1  Hakluyt,  R.    The  principal  navigations,  voyages,  traffiques  and  discoveries  of  the  English  nation.       Everyman's 
Library  editon,  vol.  6,  p.  96. 


304  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

length."  This  must  be  very  unusual,  for  as  the  same  author  states,  the  small  schizopod  crus- 
taceans are  all  that  are  usually  found  in  stomachs  of  this  whale.  Millais  (1906,  p.  181)  is 
authority  for  the  statement  that  it  feeds  also  on  squid.  A  curious  case  is  mentioned  by  John- 
ston,1 of  a  dead  Humpback,  thrown  up  on  the  shore  near  Berwick,  England,  in  September,  1829. 
"On  opening  the  stomach  six  cormorants  were  found  in  it,  and  another  in  the  throat,  so  that 
it  was  presumed  this  Whale  had  been  choaked  in  the  attempt  to  swallow  the  bird." 

Breeding  Habits. 

Practically  nothing  is  known  of  the  breeding  habits  of  the  Humpback  on  the  New  England 
coast.  They  are  often  seen  in  pairs,  however,  during  the  summer  months,  not  only  on  our 
coasts  but  in  more  northern  seas  as  well.  Guldberg  found  them  in  pairs  off  the  Norwegian  coast 
in  April  and  May,  and  Rawitz  (1900)  made  a  similar  observation  in  mid-July.  Mr.  Owen 
Bryant  saw  numbers  of  them  during  a  cruise  from  the  Isles  of  Shoals  to  Nova  Scotia,  Sep- 
tember 4-6,  1903,  most  of  which  were  in  pairs.  It  is  supposed  that  copulation  takes  place 
during  early  summer  and  that  pregnancy  lasts  about  a  year.  The  young  are  probably 
born  in  the  spring  therefore,  but  there  is  practically  no  exact  information  on  this  subject 
(Guldberg,  1887). 

A  single  young  one  is  produced  at  a  birth  as  a  rule,  though  twins  are  known  in  rare  cases. 
Verrill  (1902)  mentions  young  Humpbacks  15  or  20  feet  long  in  the  Bermudan  waters  in  Feb- 
ruary, and  such  were  no  doubt  newly  born.  Goodall  (1913)  writing  of  the  Humpback  of  the 
East  African  coast,  tells  of  one  killed  in  the  act  of  parturition,  whose  calf  measured  sixteen  feet 
in  length  and  weighed  two  tons.  The  length  of  the  mother  is  not  given  but  assuming  it  to  have 
been  in  the  neighborhood  of  48  feet,  the  length  of  the  calf  must  have  been  a  third  that  of  its 
mother. 

The  affection  of  the  mother  for  her  young  one  is  very  strong.  As  with  the  Right  Whale, 
she  will  not  leave  it  if  in  danger,  and  the  whalemen  take  advantage  of  this  by  killing  first  the 
young  one,  then  attacking  the  devoted  mother,  who  refuses  to  be  driven  off. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  young  Humpbacks  are  born  in  the  warmer  waters  to  the  south  of 
our  coasts.  Mr.  J.  S.  Wildman  who  has  for  some  years  carried  on  a  fishery  for  this  species 
in  the  Grenadines  (B.  W.  I.),  tells  me  that  during  the  month  of  March  it  is  common  to  see  in 
those  waters  young  calves  accompanying  a  bull  and  cow  Humpback.  They  seem  to  be  at  that 
time  in  passage  and  disappear  by  May.  Possibly  they  follow  the  Gulf  Stream  northwards. 
Verrill's  statement  above  quoted  indicates  that  young  are  brought  forth  also  in  the  seas  about 
the  Bermudas,  though  he  adds  (p.  274)  that  most  of  the  young  ones  seen  in  those  waters  in 
spring  are  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  long,  and  so  may  very  probably  have  been  immature 

1  Trans.  Nat.  Hist.  Soo.  Northumberland,  Durham,  Newcastle  upon  Tyne,  1831,  vol.  1,  p.  7. 


HUiMl'BACK  WHALE.  305 

animals  in  passage,  born  in  more  southern  waters.  The  young  certainly  accompany  the 
mother  for  a  considerable  period,  until  they  are  upwards  of  thirty  feet  in  length  and  probably, 
as  the  whalemen  suppose,  are  'yearlings,'  a  year  or  more  old. 

Longevity. 

Nothing  is  known  as  to  the  age  to  which  this  whale  may  live.  At  least  twenty  years 
is  probably  not  excessive,  if  we  may  credit  Professor  Verrill's  (1902)  account  of  a  Humpback 
he  saw  with  others  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  about  1859.  This  particular  specimen  had  a  large 
barnacle  so  situated  at  the  edge  of  its  blowholes  as  to  produce  a  characteristic  whistling  sound 
as  the  whale  spouted.  According  to  local  fishermen  the  whale  had  been  known  by  this  mark 
for  upwards  of  twenty  summers.  Assuming  the  truth  of  the  observation,  it  implies  a  fairly 
long  term  of  life  for  the  barnacle,  as  well  as  a  regularity  of  habit  for  the  whale  to  return  thus 
annually  to  the  same  waters. 

Occurrence  in  New  England  Waters. 

Although  the  Humpback  sometimes  comes  very  close  inshore,  it  is  very  rarely  indeed  that 
one  becomes  stranded.  Baird  (Kept.  U.  S.  Comm.  Fish  and  Fisheries  for  1879,  1882,  p.  xx) 
reports  a  30-foot  specimen  that  stranded  in  Provincetown  Bay,  and  was  secured  for  the  U.  S. 
National  Museum.  This  is  the  only  such  occurrence  known  to  me  in  New  England,  except 
the  ancient  report  of  one  that  was  stranded  in  Nantucket  Harbor  in  1608,  and  killed  by  the 
Indians.  Not  uncommonly  they  will  enter  harbors  or  even  go  a  short  distance  up  the  mouths 
of  the  large  rivers.  Thus  there  are  records  of  Humpbacks  entering  the  harbor  at  Nantucket, 
and  of  another  that  made  its  way  up  the  Piscataqua  River  beyond  the  Portsmouth  Bridge, 
N.  H.,  nearly  three  miles  from  the  sea.  Again  one  was  captured  in  Newport  Harbor,  and 
others  are  reported  close  inshore  as  in  case  of  one  seen  near  the  rocky  coast  of  Marblehead  by 
Mr.  H.  L.  Shurtleff  in  1903.  Two  whales,  probably  Humpbacks,  appeared  in  Portland  Harbor, 
Maine,  in  1908. 

Usually,  however,  they  keep  well  off  shore,  and  most  of  the  records  seem  to  be  of  schools 
or  small  companies  seen  about  Nantucket  Shoals,  on  the  Georges  Banks,  or  off  Province- 
town  and  the  outer  parts  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

In  the  following  pages  are  gathered  together  such  records  as  I  have  been  able  to  find, 
published  or  unpublished,  of  the  occurrence  of  the  Humpback  Whale  in  New  England  waters. 
Their  comparatively  meager  number  is  unquestionably  due,  not  to  the  scarcity  of  the  species 
off  our  coasts,  but  to  the  few  definite  observations  available,  and  the  relatively  small  pro- 
portion of  whales  that  are  killed  or  stranded  and  reported.  Fishermen  off  shore  occasionally 
meet  with  the  species  and  it  is  undoubtedly  of  much  more  regular  occurrence  than  the  few 


306  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

records  would  seem  to  indicate.  There  is  some  evidence,  too,  that  of  late  years  the  Hump- 
backs as  well  as  the  Finbacks  have  become  fewer  or  have  deserted  these  coasts.  Such,  at  all 
events,  is  the  observation  of  Captain  H.  L.  Spinney  whose  great  familiarity  with  the  conditions 
about  Cape  Elizabeth  lends  weight  to  his  statement  that  "with  the  driving  away  or  extermina- 
tion of  the  small  fish"  through  over-fishing  or  other  causes,  "the  whales  have  dropped  out 
of  notice."  Indeed,  he  has  seen  no  Humpbacks  in  local  waters  for  twenty  years  past.  Under 
the  occurrence  of  the  Finback,  I  have  quoted  further  from  Captain  Spinney's  letters  to  me  on 
this  matter. 

In  the  table  on  page  309  I  have  summarized  what  definite  records  of  New  England  Hump- 
backs I  have  found. 

1757. —  On  November  5th,  one  Jasher  Taylor  of  Yarmouth,  Mass.,  made  affidavit  before 
the  town  clerk  of  having  struck  but  lost  a  Humpback  Whale,  evidently  near  that  shore. 

1826. —  About  October  26th,  a  Humpback  Whale  came  into  the  outer  harbor  at  Nantucket, 
and  was  seen  spouting,  and  throwing  up  its  flukes  as  it  dove.  Although  two  boats  were  at 
once  manned  and  sent  in  pursuit,  the  approach  of  night  made  it  necessary  to  abandon  the 
chase  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  Oct.  31,  1825). 

1827. —  The  Portsmouth  Journal  gives  a  detailed  account  of  a  whale  that  had  gone  up 
the  Piscataqua  River  beyond  the  Portsmouth  Bridge,  N.  H.,  about  three  miles  from  the  sea, 
and  seemed  unable  or  unwilling  to  repass  the  bridge  in  order  to  reach  the  ocean  again.  It  was 
finally  attacked  and  killed  by  the  citizens  and  brought  to  Portsmouth  (Nantucket  Inquirer, 
June  16  and  23,  1827).  The  ridge  on  the  back  and  the  crenulate  outline  of  the  flukes  seem  to 
identify  it  as  a  Humpback  though  allowance  must  be  made  for  certain  discrepancies  in  meas- 
urements given. 

Two  were  killed  on  the  Nantucket  Shoals  during  the  first  ten  days  of  August,  by  the  sloop 
Rapid  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  Aug.  11,  1827). 

1836. —  A  note  in  the  Providence  Courier  makes  mention  of  a  whale  that  had  been  seen 
several  times  off  Newport,  R.  I.,  during  the  last  of  June.  It  was  finally  captured  in  Newport 
Harbor,  "north  of  the  Asylum;  it  measures  fifty  feet  in  length,  and  is  of  the  Humpback  species 
and  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  which  was  seen  off  Pawtuxet  on  Wednesday  morning  last." 

1840. —  In  December,  1840,  a  Humpback  Whale,  that  made  some  fifty  barrels  of  oil,  was 
killed  in  Provincetown  Harbor  (Alexander  Young:  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  1844, 
p.  119,  footnote). 

1841. —  According  to  a  report  in  the  Boston  Transcript,  the  steamer  Huntress  saw  a  large 
school  of  Humpbacks  not  far  from  Cape  Elizabeth,  Maine,  about  the  first  week  in  June  (Nan- 
tucket Inquirer,  vol.  21,  no.  47,  June  12,  1841).  The  boat  passed  close  to  one  of  about  forty 
feet  in  length. 

1844. —  A  skeleton,  mounted  and  preserved  in  the  Museum  at  Niagara  Falls,  New  York, 


HUMPH  ACK  WHALE.  307 

\\  as  made  by  Cope  (1865)  the  type  of  his  Megaptcra  osphyia.  The  individual  was  found  dead 
at  sea  off  Petit  Manan  Lighthouse,  Maine,  in  July  of  this  year,  and  was  towed  to  shore.  The 
animal  was  said  to  have  been  fifty  feet  long. 

1845. —  What  was  doubtless  a  Humpback  Whale,  was  killed  off  the  coast  of  Maine  in 
July,  1845,  and  its  skeleton,  "set  up  at  much  labor  and  expense,"  was  exhibited  in  Boston  shortly 
after.  Dr.  J.  B.  S.  Jackson  made  it  the  subject  of  brief  remarks  at  a  meeting  of  the  Boston 
Society  of  Natural  History,  August  20th,  1845.  In  the  possession  of  51  or  52  vertebrae  and 
fourteen  pairs  of  ribs,  Dr.  Jackson  pointed  out  its  agreement  with  Cuvier's  "Rorqual  du  Cap," 
a  Humpback  of  the  South  Atlantic.  The  specimen  was  40  feet  long,  and  a  female,  nearly  adult 
(Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  1845,  vol.  2,  p.  53). 

1852. —  A  Humpback  Whale  was  captured  by  a  whaling  schooner  from  Provincetown  about 
the  middle  of  June,  some  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Cape  Elizabeth  Light,  Maine.  It  was 
towed  to  House  Island  and  flensed.  The  yield  of  oil  was  estimated  at  forty  barrels  (Nantucket 
Inquirer,  vol.  32,  no.  73,  June  21,  1852). 

During  the  first  three  weeks  of  August  six  Humpbacks  were  killed  by  the  schooner  Hamilton 
of  Nantucket  on  the  Shoals.  Five  others  were  struck  but  lost  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  32, 
no.  100,  Aug.  27,  1852). 

1859. —  On  April  22d,  a  dead  Humpback  was  reported  20  miles  south  of  Nantucket  South 
Shoal  by  the  ship  Richmond  from  Savannah.  The  note  adds  that  several  Humpback  Whales 
had  been  seen  in  Massachusetts  Bay  during  the  last  week  of  April  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  43, 
no.  32,  April  29,  1859). 

During  late  July  and  early  August  of  this  year,  Professor  A.  E.  Verrill,  while  engaged  in 
marine  investigations  about  Grand  Manan,  "personally  observed  large  schools  of  Humpbacks, 
with  some  Fin-backs  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  They  were  especially  numerous  at  the  seining 
grounds  known  as  the  '  Ripplings,'  east  of  Grand  Manan  Island,  towards  the  center  of  the  Bay, 
where  the  strong  opposed  tidal  currents  make  a  large  area  of  very  rough  water  during  flood 
tide"  (A.  E.  Verrill:  The  Bermuda  Islands,  1902,  p.  275). 

1863. —  During  the  last  week  of  October  of  this  year,  "three  large  Humpback  Whales" 
were  seen  on  Nantucket  Shoals  by  the  crew  of  the  schooner  Samuel  Chase.  On  learning  of  this, 
Captain  Patterson  of  Nantucket  set  out  in  the  Rainbow  in  the  hope  of  making  a  capture  but 
as  nothing  further  is  chronicled,  he  was  probably  unsuccessful  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  43, 
no.  47,  Oct.  31,  1863). 

1877. —  The  Nantucket  Inquirer  and  Mirror  (vol.  58,  no.  15,  Oct.  31,  1877)  relates  a  singular 
accident  that  befell  a  citizen  who  was  coot  shooting  from  a  dory  off  Gunner's  Point,  South 
Plymouth,  Mass.,  on  October  30th.  A  Humpback  Whale  rose  and  spouted  some  distance  off, 
and  on  again  coming  to  the  surface,  it  rose  directly  under  the  boat,  oversetting  it  and  tipping 
its  occupant  into  the  water.  Fortunately  he  was  quickly  rescued  by  some  men  in  another  dory. 


308  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

1878.— True  (1904,  p.  232)  records  a  skeleton  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  (no.  21492) 
from  a  whale  killed  at  Cape  Cod  probably  in  this  year. 

1879. —  On  April  12th,  a  thirty-foot  specimen  stranded  in  Provincetown  Bay.  A  cast 
was  made  of  it  for  the  U.  S.  National  Museum  and  its  skeleton  is  also  preserved  there  (no. 
16252)  (S.  F.  Baird:  Kept.  U.  S.  Commr.  Fish  and  Fisheries  for  1879,  1882,  p.  xx).  Two 
others  were  killed  in  the  spring  of  this  year  in  Provincetown  Harbor  by  the  use  of  bomb-lances 
(G.  B.  Goode:  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1884,  sect.  1,  p.  27).  In  this  year 
Humpbacks  were  abundant  in  summer  off  the  Maine  coast,  and  four  were  taken  previous  to 
September  1st,  by  a  small  schooner,  the  Brilliant,  of  Provincetown  (ibid.). 

1880. —  In  the  spring  of  this  year  one  was  killed  and  brought  into  Bass  Harbor,  Maine 
(A.  H.  Clark  in  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  5,  vol.  2,  p.  40). 
Three  others  were  killed  during  the  spring  and  summer  by  Provincetown  whalers  in  New  Eng- 
land waters  (ibid.,  p.  42). 

1881. —  On  May  14th,  no  less  than  twenty  Humpbacks  were  shot  with  bomb-lances  in 
Provincetown  Harbor  (G.  B.  Goode:  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1884,  sect.  1, 
P-  27). 

1895. —  About  May  1st,  a  Humpback  was  wounded  by  Captain  E.  W.  Smith,  off  Province- 
town. 

1903. —  Mr.  Owen  Bryant  tells  me  that  during  a  cruise  from  the  Isles  of  Shoals  to  Nova 
Scotia,  September  4-6,  he  saw  in  all  a  hundred  or  more.  They  were  mainly  in  pairs  and  per- 
haps mated  at  this  time. 

Mr.  Howard  L.  Shurtleff  gives  me  a  note  of  a  whale  that  was  seen  close  to  the 
Marblehead  shore,  Massachusetts,  for  an  entire  afternoon  in  early  September.  With  a  glass, 
he  could  see  the  barnacles  on  the  whale  as  it  came  partly  out  of  water,  and  noticed  that  in  diving 
it  threw  its  tail  clear.  These  two  facts  seem  to  indicate  that  it  was  a  Humpback. 

1908. —  Two  whales  that  appeared  in  Portland  Harbor,  Maine,  in  July  of  this  year,  may 
have  been  Humpbacks.  According  to  the  newspaper  report  (Lewiston  Journal)  they  were 
watched  for  some  while  "peacefully  romping  about"  near  Peak's  Island,  occasionally  "flapping 
their  huge  tails  out  of  water."  The  latter  observation,  if  true,  would  seem  to  indicate  Hump- 
backs. 

1911. —  A  number  of  Humpbacks  were  seen  on  August  5th,  by  my  friend,  Dr.  Charles  W. 
Townsend,  while  off  the  Maine  coast  about  an  hour's  voyage  from  Cape  Ann,  en  route  from 
St.  John,  N.  B.,  to  Boston.  Occasionally  five  or  six  were  seen  close  together,  and  when  they 
sounded,  their  tails  were  lifted  from  the  water  in  the  characteristic  manner. 

1913. —  About  August  14th,  Mr.  Walter  H.  Rich  observed  numbers  of  Humpbacks  off 
Sankoty  Head,  Mass. 


HUMPBACK  WHALE. 


309 


Humpbacks  in  New  England  Waters. 


Locality 

1 

1 

February 

1 

I 

S 

i 

1 

1 

! 

I 

November 

1 

Off  Yarmouth,  Mass. 
Nantucket  Harbor,  Mass. 
Piscataqua  River,  N.  H. 
Nantucket  Shoals 
Off  Newport,  R.  I. 
Provincetown  Harbor,  Mass. 
Off  Cape  Elizabeth,  Me. 
Off  Petit  Manan  Lighthouse 
Maine  Coast 
Oil'  (  'ape  Elizabeth,  Me. 
Nantucket  Shoals 
Nantucket  Shoals 
Massachusetts  Bay 
Bay  of  Fundy 
Nantucket  Shoals 
OH'  South  Plymouth,  Mass. 
Provincetown  Bay,  Mass. 
Near  Bass  Harbor,  Me. 
Provincetown  Harbor,  Mass. 
Off  Provincetown,  Mass. 
Gulf  of  Maine 
Marblehead,  Mass. 
Portland  Harbor,  Me. 
Off  Cape  Ann,  Mass. 
Off  Sankoty  Head,  Mass. 

1757 
1825 
1827 
1827 
1830 
1840 
1841 
1844 
1845 
1852 
1852 
1859 
1859 
1859 
1863 
1877 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1895 
1903 
1903 
1908 
1911 
1913 

1 

1 

1 

i 

..  2 

i 

n 
1 
1 
1 

11 
n 

3 
1 

1 

n 

n 

1 
sp 

ring  at 
20 
1 

id  sumr 

ner 

100± 

1 

2 

n 
n 

0 

0 

0 

2+  In 

21  + 

5+  In 

2+ln 

13+3n 

101  ± 

5 

1 

1 

The  table  brings  out  rather  strikingly  that  so  far  as  the  evidence  goes,  the  Humpback  is 
practically  absent  from  our  coast  in  winter.  There  are  no  records  for  January,  February,  or 
March,  and  but  one  each  for  November  and  December.  They  begin  to  appear  in  April  and 
may  be  common  during  the  summer,  but  after  September  or  October  again  disappear.  It  is 
noticeable  that  the  larger  schools  of  them  are  usually  seen  well  off  shore,  and  that  those  seen 
nearer  the  mainland  are  usually  solitary  individuals.  Captain  H.  L.  Spinney  writes  me  (1913) 
that  during  his  observations  in  the  region  about  Cape  Elizabeth,  Maine,  covering  forty  years 
past,  he  used  to  see  Finbacks  and  Humpbacks,  particularly  the  former,  at  least  from  April  to 
November,  but  that  July  and  August  were  the  months  when  they  were  seen  in  greatest  numbers. 
This  corroborates  the  table,  and  indicates  that  the  Humpback  is  a  spring  and  summer  visitor 
with  us. 


310  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

These  facts  lead  us  to  inquire  further  into  the  movements  of  the  Humpback  in  the  North 
Atlantic.  Guldberg  (1904,  p.  376)  has  summarized  a  number  of  observations  bearing  on  the 
movements  'of  Humpbacks  on  the  European  coasts,  Greenland  and  adjacent  seas.  He  con- 
cludes that  the  Humpbacks  of  the  North  Atlantic  frequent  the  higher  latitudes  in  summer  and 
fall,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  year  scatter  in  the  search  for  better  feeding  grounds,  which  for  the 
most  part  they  find  in  the  more  southern  latitudes.  It  is  certain  that  our  present  knowledge 
on  this  matter  is  quite  insufficient  for  more  than  tentative  conclusions.  In  the  western  North 
Atlantic,  however,  I  have  gathered  a  number  of  facts  as  to  the  presence  of  this  species,  which 
may  be  briefly  summarized.  In  late  winter,  especially  in  February  and  March,  Humpbacks 
are  found  with  young  calves  among  the  islands  of  the  Lesser  Antilles  and  the  Bermudas.  Among 
the  Grenadines  (Lesser  Antilles)  the  Humpback  fishery  is  followed  from  January  to  May, 
during  which  time,  single  whales,  cows  with  calves,  and  groups  consisting  of  a  pair  with  a  calf, 
are  to  be  found.  Verrill  records  that  among  the  Bermudas  the  Humpbacks  were  found  in  the 
same  months  with  young  calves  and  in  former  days  were  actively  pursued  there.  They  begin 
to  appear  off  the  New  England  coasts  in  April,  are  common  here  in  summer,  and  reach  the 
coasts  of  Newfoundland  in  numbers  by  late  April,  May,  and  June.  By  late  summer  they  pene- 
trate Davis  Strait  and  Baffin's  Bay  on  the  South  Greenland  coast.  Guldberg  says  that  from 
January  to  April  19,  1902,  only  five  were  killed  on  the  Newfoundland  coasts  by  the  steam- 
whalers,  but  from  that  date  till  the  end  of  August  about  a  hundred  were  captured.  These  facts 
tend  to  show  that  during  the  colder  months,  December  through  March,  most  of  the  Hump- 
backs of  the  western  North  Atlantic  are  to  be  found  inside  (south  of)  the  Gulf  Stream  area, 
and  that  their  young  are  born  in  those  warmer  waters.  They  are  not  necessarily  in  coastal 
waters  at  these  times,  for  I  have  records  of  Humpbacks,  March  28th  and  March  29th,  near 
27°  11'  N.,  50°  07'  W.,  and  26°  38'  N.,  48°  58'  W.,  respectively,  a  pair  in  each  case.  By  April 
they  work  north.  Those  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  have  left  it  by  May,  and  those  that  wintered 
farther  north  (as  we  may  suppose)  are  already  appearing  on  the  New  England  coasts.  The 
northward  movement  continues  till  late  summer,  when  there  is  a  withdrawal  to  the  Gulf  Stream 
waters  and  southward  to  the  sub-tropics.  No  doubt,  as  with  migrating  birds,  this  is  a  gradual 
process  and  it  may  be  that  those  animals  that  wintered  farthest  north,  are,  the  ones  to  reach 

our  coast  first  and  that  they  are  the  same  schools  that  push  to  the  higher  latitudes  and  the 

• 

Greenland  waters,  while  those  that  wintered  farthest  south  spend  the  summer  in  our  waters. 
As  with  birds,  also,  there  are  always  a  few  stray  individuals  that  from  accident  or  choice  find 
it  possible  to  winter  to  the  north  of  the  general  winter  range  of  the  species,  so  that  it  is  not 
surprising  to  find  a  few  even  on  the  Newfoundland  coast  in  the  cold  months.  These  we  should 
expect  to  be  nonbreeding  cows  or  bulls.  It  is  known  also  that  they  may  be  present  in  the 
Finmark  waters  in  February  and  March. 

What  determines  these  migratory  movements  is  yet  uncertain.     Temperature  undoubtedly 


HUMPBACK  WHALE.  311 

is  a  factor,  but  probably  an  indirect  one,  in  having  an  influence  on  the  food  supply.  Not 
unlikely,  too,  is  the  supposition  that  the  warmer  southern  waters  are  more  tolerable  for  the 
newly  born  young. 

Of  the  return  movement  in  fall  there  is  very  little  actual  knowledge.  Verrill  speaks  of  a 
large  school,  presumably  of  Humpbacks,  seen  on  October  23,  1879,  off  the  Bermudas,  and  sup- 
poses they  were  in  passage  southward. 

Humpback  Whale  Fishery  in  New  England. 

The  first  recorded  capture  of  the  Humpback  Whale  in  New  England  seems  to  have  been 
in  1608,  according  to  Clark  '  "when  a  party  of  Indians  killed  a  humpback  whale  which  got 
stranded  on  a  part  of  Nantucket,  called  Caton,  in  the  inner  harbor."  For  the  first  century 
or  more  during  which  our  forefathers  pursued  the  shore  fishery  on  these  coasts,  the  Right  Whale 
was  the  chief  object  of  the  industry.  Occasionally  an  attempt  was  made  to  kill  a  Finback 
if  some  favorable  chance  offered,  but  the  Humpback  Whale  being  somewhat  more  sluggish  and 
less  powerful  than  the  swift  Finback  Whales,  and  yielding  more  oil  in  proportion,  was  undoubt- 
edly killed  in  small  numbers.  Of  this,  however,  there  is  little  actual  record.  Freeman  in  his 
History  of  Cape  Cod  (1802,  vol.  2,  p.  218)  mentions  the  following  entry  by  the  Town  Clerk  of 
Yarmouth  in  the  town  records:  "I,  Jasher  Taylor,  Nov.  5,  1757,  struck  a  hump-back  whale 
on  the  back,  about  two  yards  past  the  fin, —  the  iron,  with  a  thick  head  and  short  warp,  not 
marked."  This  record  was  of  course  made  in  accordance  with  a  regulation  passed  a  number 
of  years  previously,  requiring  persons  who  struck  and  lost  a  whale,  to  make  this  form  of  affi- 
davit immediately  thereafter,  so  as  to  avoid  controversy  concerning  ownership,  should  the 
whale  subsequently  drift  ashore  dead.  "Craft  [i.  e.,  whaling  implements]  claims  the  whale" 
has  ever  been  an  unwritten  law  among  whalemen. 

With  the  decrease  in  numbers  of  the  Right  Whale  on  our  coasts,  the  Humpback  seems  to 
have  been  more  frequently  pursued  during  the  eigtheenth  century  by  vessels  making  short 
cruises  from  Nantucket  or  the  Cape  Cod  towns.  The  Nantucket  Shoals  and  George's  Banks 
were  favorite  'grounds'  for  this  fishery,  which  seems  often  to  have  been  combined  with  cod- 
fishing. 

The  American  Revolution  placed  a  temporary  check  upon  the  progress  of  offshore  whaling, 
as  our  vessels  were  ever  liable  to  capture  by  the  English  privateers  and  men-o'-war.  To  the 
Nantucketers,  then  largely  dependent  on  this  means  of  livelihood,  it  became  therefore  a  serious 
matter,  and  in  1781,  we  find  them  approaching  Admiral  Arbuthnot,  at  that  time  in  command 
of  the  English  navy  in  American  waters,  with  a  petition  to  be  allowed  to  carry  on  their  whaling 
operations  unmolested.  This  request  was  generously  granted,  but  so  impoverished  had  the 

1  Clark,  A.  Howard,  in  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  5,  vol.  2,  p.  30. 


312  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

islanders  become  by  reason  of  the  war,  that  few  were  able  to  make  much  avail  of  the  privilege. 
After  the  Revolution  and  until  the  War  of  1812,  the  New  England  whalers  continued  to  take 
Humpbacks  on  the  shoals  to  the  eastward  of  Nantucket,  where,  according  to  Macy,1  these  as 
well  as  codfish,  "were  plenty,  which  gave  encouragement  to  many,  who  would  otherwise  have 
been  idle,  to  engage  in  the  pursuit  of  them.  But  unfortunately  a  privateer  came  among  the 
fleet,  and  took  several  vessels,  one  of  which  belonged  to  Nantucket."  This  seems  to  have  again 
placed  a  temporary  check  upon  whaling  in  home  waters. 

Although  the  Revolution  and  the  War  of  1812  nearly  destroyed  the  American  whaling 
industry,  it  soon  regained  its  place  and  in  the  decade  following  1835  was  at  the  height  of  its 
importance.  But  it  was  now  concerned  chiefly  with  long  voyages  to  distant  seas  or  often  around 
the  globe,  so  that  we  have  little  record  of  what  few  whales  were  taken  on  our  coast.  No  doubt, 
however,  an  occasional  Humpback  was  killed  by  fishermen  in  boats  from  the  shore  or  more 
often  from  their  fishing  vessels  on  the  Shoals. 

In  his  article  on  the  fisheries  of  Massachusetts,  Clark 2  writes  that  "Mr.  Elisha  Atwood .... 
informed  me  that  seventy-five  or  eighty  years  ago  [i.  e.,  1805-1810],  there  were  four  captains, 
each,  with  his  vessel,  employing  fourteen  hands,  hailing  from  Wellfleet.  They  went  to  Labrador 
for  right-whale,  Mount  Desert  and  vicinity  for  humpback-whale,  and  the  West  Indies  for 
sperm-whale.  There  were  watchers  on  the  shore  who  signalled  to  the  whalemen  the  appearance 
of  a  whale  in  the  bay  [Provincetown  Bay].  These  men  would  then  go  out  after  it  and  tow  it 
inshore  to  the  islands,  where  the  oil  was  tried  out.  There  is  no  whaling  from  Wellfleet  now. 
Fifty-five  years  ago  [i.  e.,  about  1830]  the  whale-oil  trying  on  Griffin's  Island  and  Bound  Brook 
Island  [Truro,  Mass.]  came  to  an  end.  Just  prior  to  this  sixteen  persons  were  employed.  Ten 
or  twelve  years  ago  [1877  or  1875]  the  last  vessel  was  fitted  out  for  the  West  Indies,  but  proved 
a  failure."  Captain  N.  E.  Atwood  of  Provincetown  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  "a 
great  many  [Humpbacks]  have  been  killed  near  Provincetown  within  his  recollection:  that  is 
to  say,  or  since  1817.  One  harpooned  in  the  harbor  in  1840  yielded  fifty-four  barrels  of  oil. 
Two  were  killed  in  the  spring  of  1879,  with  bomb-lances." 

The  Nantucket  Inquirer  of  August  11,  1827,  notes  the  arrival  at  that  port  of  the  sloop 
Rapid,  Captain  Myrick,  from  a  whaling  excursion  of  ten  days  "over  the  shoals."  Two  Hump- 
backs constituted  the  catch.  These  had  been  taken  "about  20  miles  eastward  of  this  island, 
in  18  fathoms  of  water.  The  blubber. .  .  .was  peeled  off  immediately  in  large  'blanket  pieces,' 
or  flakes,  about  10  feet  in  length,  two  or  three  feet  wide,  and  from  4  to  10  inches  in  thickness. 
The  mass  thus  stripped  from  the  carcasses,  nearly  filled  the  vessel's  hold;  and  will  probably 
produce  50  barrels  of  oil  worth  38  to  40  cents  per  gallon."  The  practice  of  stripping  the  blubber 

1  Macy,  Obed.     History  of  Nantucket,  1835,  p.  174. 

1  Clark,  A.  Howard,  in  G.  B.  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  2,  p.  235. 

3  Goode,  G.  B.     Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1884,  sect.  1,  p.  27. 


WHALE.  313 

at  sea" and  bringing  it  ashore  to  try  out  the  oil  in  the  vats  there  seems  to  have  been  generally 
followed  on  the  Massachusetts  coasts  at  this  time. 

In  these  years  too  (from  1810  to  about  1840)  Humpback  Whales  were  undoubtedly  the 
chief  object  of  the  Maine  shore-fishery,  an  account  of  which  is  given  by  Earll  and  Clark,1  as 
follows:  "Capt.  J.  Bickford,  a  native  of  Winter  Harbor,  is  reported  by  Mr.  C.  P.  Guptil  to  have 
cruised  off  the  coast  in  1845  in  schooner  Huzza,  and  to  have  captured  eight  whales,  one  of  which 
was  a  finback,  the  rest  humpback  whales.  This  schooner  made  only  one  season's  work.  .  . . 
Mr.  Earll  states  that  according  to  Capt.  George  A.  Clark  and  Captain  Bickford  whaling  was 
extensively  carried  on  from  Prospect  Harbor,  [Maine]  for  many  years.  The  fishing  began 
about  1810,  when  Stephen  Clark  and  Mr.  L.  Hiller,  of  Rochester,  Mass.,  came  to  the  region, 
and  built  try  works  on  the  shore,  having  their  lookout  station  on  the  top  of  an  adjoining  hill. 
The  whales  usually  followed  the  menhaden  to  the  shore,  arriving  about  the  first  of  June  and 
remaining  till  September.  When  one  was  seen  the  boats,  armed  with  harpoons  and  lances, 
immediately  put  out  from  the  land  and  gave  chase.  If  they  succeeded  in  killing  the  whale, 
it  was  towed  to  the  flats  of  the  harbor  at  high  water,  where  it  was  secured  and  left  to  be  cut  up 
at  low  tide.  Ten  years  later  they  began  using  small  vessels  in  the  fishery,  and  by  this  means 
were  enabled  to  go  farther  from  land.  The  fishery  was  at  its  height  about  1835  to  1840,  when 
an  average  of  six  or  seven  whales  was  taken  yearly.  The  largest  number  taken  in  any  one 
season  was  ten.  The  average  yield  of  oil  was  25  to  30  barrels  for  each  whale.  The  business 
was  discontinued  about  1860,  since  which  date  but  one  or  two  whales  have  been  taken."  The 
skeleton  of  a  Humpback,  probably  one  of  those  killed  by  the  Huzza  in  July,  1845,  was  mounted 
and  exhibited  in  Boston  that  summer.2 

The  specimen  found  dead  in  July,  1844,  off  Petit  Manan  Lighthouse,  and  later  made  by 
Cope  (1865)  the  type  of  his  Megaptera  osphyia,  was  perhaps  also  killed  by  the  shore  whalers. 
The  same  account  says  that  "shore-whaling  in  the  vicinity  of  Tremont,  [Maine,]  began  about 
1840.  Mr.  Benjamin  Beaver  and  a  small  crew  of  men  caught  three  or  more  whales  annually 
for  about  twenty  years,  but  gave  up  the  business  in  1860.  No  more  whales  were  taken  from 
this  time  to  the  spring  of  1880,  when  one  was  taken  and  brought  into  Bass  Harbor,  and  yielded 
1,200  gallons  of  oil  [38  barrels],  but  no  bone  of  value."  Of  the  whales  captured  during  these 
years,  a  few  were  probably  Finbacks,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  (from  the  time  of  year, 
amount  of  oil,  and  the  fact  that  Finbacks  were  generally  unmolested)  that  Humpbacks  were 
the  species  chiefly  sought.  Apparently  no  other  regular  efforts  were  made  to  capture 
Humpbacks  on  the  Maine  coast  until  the  eighties,  when  small  steamers  with  bomb  guns 
probably  took  a  few  together  with  Finbacks. 

1  Clark,  A.  Howard.     The  Whale  Fishery,  in  Goode's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  5,  vol.  2, 
p.  40. 

-  .Jiirkson,  J.  B.  S.     Proc.  Boston  foe.  Nat.  Hist.,  1845,  vol.  2,  p.  53. 


314  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

On  the  Massachusetts  coast,  however,  there  was  still  more  or  less  fishing  for  these  whales 
from  time  to  time,  and  "humpbacking  on  the  Shoals"  was  probably  the  frequent  resort  of 
many  a  Nantucket  or  Cape  Cod  fisherman  in  the  years  preceding  1850.  A  writer  in  the  Nan- 
tucket  Inquirer  of  1874,  recalls  the  days  of  his  boyhood,  "when  we  were  often  made  glad  by  the 
arrival  of  a  fortunate  'humpbacker/"  for  the  crisp  bits  of  "flukes  and  scraps"  resulting  from 
the  trying  out  of  the  blubber  on  shore,  were  perquisites  highly  esteemed  by  the  childish  fancy. 
In  a  more  or  less  desultory  sort  of  way  this  pursuit  of  Humpback  Whales  was  kept  up,  even 
to  the  time  of  the  Civil  War.  Thus  an  item  in  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  (vol.  32,  no.  100,  Aug. 
27,  1852)  records  the  arrival  at  that  port  of  the  schooner  Hamilton,  which  during  the  first 
three  weeks  of  August,  1852,  had  been  cruising  on  the  "Shoals"  for  Humpbacks.  In  this  time, 
eleven  had  been  struck,  of  which  six  were  "saved"  and  produced  130  barrels  of  oil.  This, 
the  account  states,  was  the  Hamilton's  second  successful  cruise,  but  whether  in  the  same  or  the 
previous  season,  is  not  clear.  On  the  first  cruise  the  amount  of  oil  secured  was  but  sixty  barrels. 
In  the  same  year,  the  Nantucket  Inquirer  (vol.  32,  no.  121,  Oct.  13,  1852)  notes  that  the 
schooner  Union,  of  Provincetown,  "recently  captured  a  whale  off  Cape  Ann,  which  is  the 
second  one  that  has  been  taken  in  that  locality  within  the  past  few  days."  Judging  from 
the  time  of  year,  these  may  have  been  Humpbacks.  In  1854,  the  schooner  Wm.  P.  Dolliver 
started  in  early  July  for  "a  whaling  cruise  on  the  Shoals,"  but  when  only  a  short  distance  out 
from  Nantucket  Harbor,  shot  a  Finback  with  a  bomb-lance  and  put  back  with  the  prize.  Again 
the  discovery  of  three  Humpback  Whales  "on  the  Shoals"  late  in  October,  1863,  was  considered 
sufficient  inducement  for  one  of  the  Nantucket  captains  to  set  sail  shortly  after  in  pursuit,  but 
with  what  result  does  not  appear  (Nantucket  Inquirer,  vol.  43,  no.  47,  Oct.  31,  1863). 

With  the  general  introduction  of  the  bomb-lance  and  the  renewed  activity  in  shore  whaling 
by  means  of  small  steamers,  a  great  many  whales  were  killed  in  New  England  waters  during 
the  '70's  and  '80's,  but  what  proportion  of  these  were  Humpback  Whales  cannot  now  be  ascer- 
tained. Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake  gives  me  a  note  of  one  taken  in  Cape  Cod  Bay  in  1875,  by  Jesse 
Glenn  of  the  schooner  Starlight.  "Two  were  killed  in  the  spring  of  1879,  with  bomb-lances" 
near  Provincetown.1  In  this  same  year  "the  Humpbacks  were  abundant  on  the  coast  of  Maine. 
One  of  the  most  successful  whalers  out  of  Provincetown  this  season  is  the  'Brilliant,'  a  very 
old  pink-stern  schooner  of  seventeen  tons,  which  had  been  hunting  this  species  off  Deer  Isle, 
Maine.  Up  to  September  1,  she  had  taken  four  whales,  yielding  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
barrels.  The  'Brilliant'  carries  but  one  whale-boat  and  tries  out  the  oil  upon  shore,  towing 
in  the  whales  as  they  are  killed."1  Of  the  hundred  or  more  whales  killed  in  our  waters  by 
Provincetown  whalers  in  1880,  but  three  were  said  to  be  Humpbacks,  the  rest  "of  the  finback 
species."  In  the  following  year,  however,  no  less  than  twenty  Humpbacks  were  shot  with 
bomb-lances  in  Provincetown  Harbor  on  May  14th;  doubtless  others  were  killed  at  this  time. 

,»  Goode,  G.  B.     Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1884,  sect.  1,  p.  27. 
2  Clark,  A.  Howard.     In  G.  B.  Goodc's  Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  5,  vol.  2,  p.  42. 


HUMPBACK  WHALE.  315 

A  clipping  from  the  Provincetown  Beacon,  kindly  loaned  me  by  Mr.  J.  Henry  Blake,  states 
that  :t  Humpback  was  wounded  about  the  first  of  May,  1895,  by  Capt.  "Ed.  Walter "  Smith, 
a  Provincetown  whaler.  After  this  year  the  shore  whaling  with  small  steamers  was  abandoned 
by  the  New  England  fishermen. 

Yield  of  Oil. 

The  amount  of  oil  yielded  by  the  Humpback  Whale  is  given  by  Goode  '  as  averaging  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  barrels.  This  is  the  yield  under  the  old  method  of  trying  out  the  blubber 
alone.  The  modern  practice  of  trying  out  the  entire  carcass  affords  a  greater  return  of  oil,  but 
that  from  the  flesh  and  bones  is  inferior.  The  specimen  previously  mentioned  that  gave  54 
barrels  must  have  been  unusually  fat.  The  average  of  fourteen  Humpbacks,  the  totals  of  which 
have  just  been  given,  was  33.3  barrels  each.  The  oil  is  not  distinguished  commercially  from 
that  of  the  Balaenopterae. 

The  whalebone  is  short  and  coarse-grained  and  in  former  times  was  thrown  away  by 
the  fishermen  along  with  the  rest  of  the  carcass  after  stripping  the  blubber.  At  the  present 
time,  however,  it  is  carefully  saved  and  sold  with  that  of  Finbacks  and  Blue  Whales  by  the 
whaling  companies  of  Newfoundland  and  the  northern  European  coasts. 

Enemies  and  Parasites. 

It  is  not  known  that  the  Humpback  has  much  to  fear  from  predacious  sea  animals.  As 
before  mentioned,  the  Killer  Whale  no  doubt  at  times  attacks  a  larger  whale,  but  there  are 
few  authentic  data  on  this  point.  That  the  swordfish  may  attack 
a  whale  is  also  not  impossible,  and  if  tradition  may  be  believed, 
it  has  occasionally  happened.  Such  instances  must  be  very  rare, 
however. 

Of  external  parasites,  the  Humpback  is  the  host  of  a  most 
characteristic  barnacle,  Coronula,  which  has  become  remarkably 
adapted  for  attachment  to  the  exterior  of  the  whale  through  the 
lobular  outpocketings  of  the  valves  of  its  shell,  whereby  it  is 
firmly  embedded  in  the  whale's  integument.  These  barnacles 
occur  particularly  at  the  symphysis  of  the  jaw,  and  along  the 

knobs  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  pectorals,  on  the  rough  tubercles          TBXT-FIO.  12. — Whale  louse 

(Paracyamus  boopis),   a  crusta- 

of  the  head,  and  sometimes  about  the  anus  or  scattered  on  the       Cean  parasitic  on  the  Humpback 

ventral  part  of  the  abdomen.     The  whalemen  commonly  believe       whale  <after  Lutken- 1873,  Plate 

3,  fig.  6). 
that  the  lively  antics  of  the  Humpback  are  the  result  of  its  efforts 

to  get  rid  of  these  parasites.     Darwin,  in  his  Monograph  of  the  Cirripeds,  recognizes  three 

1  Goode,  G.  B.     Fisheries  and  Fishery  Industries  of  U.  S.,  1887,  sect.  5,  vol.  2,  p.  40. 


316  ALLEN:    NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

living  species  of  the  genus  Coronula.  Pilsbry,  in  his  monograph  just  issued,  has  extended 
our  knowledge  of  these,  and  has  established  the  fact  that  two  species  occur  as  parasites  or 
commensals  on  the  Atlantic  Humpback.  Of  these  C.  diadema  is  the  most  common,  and  is 
found  only  slightly  imbedded  in  the  whale's  skin,  particularly  on  the  front  edge  of  the  pec- 
toral flipper,  about  the  anus  and  flukes.  It  is  known  from  the  North  Pacific  as  well  as  from 
the  North  Atlantic,  but  not  as  yet  from  the  South  Atlantic.  The  second  species,  C.  reginae, 
has  a  similar  range,  so  far  as  known.  It  is  found  on  the  lips  of  the  Humpback,  where  the 
skin  is  thin,  and  here  its  more  flattened  shell  grows  deeply  imbedded,  so  that  only  the  sum- 
mit is  seen.  Van  Beneden  (1890)  recorded  it  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  The  third 
species,  C.  complanata,  is  somewhat  like  the  last.  Its  only  North  Atlantic  record  seems  to 
be  that  of  Pilsbry,  based  on  a  specimen  in  the  Paris  Museum,  from  Norway. 

Attached  to  the  large  Coronulae,  are  often  to  be  found  clusters  of  a  second  species  of  bar- 
nacle, the  long-stalked  Conchoderma  auritum.  This  species  is  cosmopolitan,  and  is  not  usually 
attached  to  the  Humpback  except  in  this  secondary  way. 

A  third  species  of  crustacean,  the  whale-louse,  an  aberrant  amphipod,  is  also  found  cling- 
ing by  its  hook-like  legs,  to  the  rugosities  or  between  the  throat  plaits  of  this-  whale.  It  is 
considered  to  represent  a  genus  distinct  from  that  found  on  the  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale, 
and  is  known  as  Paracyamus  boopis  (Lutken).  An  outline  figure  of  this  species,  taken  from 
Liitken's  paper,  is  here  shown  (text-fig.  12).  According  to  Morch  (1911)  the  curious  crusta- 
cean Penella  is  occasionally  found  attached  to  the  Humpback.  No  doubt  also  the  small  para- 
sitic copepod  Balaenophilus  will  be  found  attached  to  the  baleen  plates,  but  I  know  of  no  record 
for  it  in  this  species.  The  internal  parasites  likewise  remain  quite  unknown,  though  one  or 
more  species  of  cestodes  doubtless  are  present  in  the  intestinal  tract. 


LITERATURE. 

A1..-I,  0. 

190S.     Die  Morphologic  <icr  Hiiftlwinrudimente  der  Cetaceen.     Denkschr.  K.  Akad.  Wiss.  Wien,  math  • 

nal.  Kl.,  vol.  81,  p.  139-195,  56  figs. 
Allen,  J.  A. 

1st,!).     Catalogue  of  the  mammals  of  Massachusetts:  with  a  critical  revision  of  the  species.     Bull.  Mus. 

( 'oinp.  Zool.,  vol.  1,  p.  143-252. 
1908.     The  North  Atlantic  Right  Whale  and  its  near  allies.     Bull.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  24,  p. 

277-329,  pi.  19-24. 
Andrews,   \i.  C. 

1908.  Notes  upon  the  external  and  internal  anatomy  of  Balacna  glacial-is  Bonn.     Bull.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat. 

Hist.,  vol.  24,  p.  171-1S2,  text-fig.  1-6. 

1909.  Observations  on  the  habits  of  the  Finback  and  Humpback  Whales  of  the  eastern  North  Pacific. 

Bull.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  26,  p.  213-226,  pi.  30-40. 
1909a.     Further  notes  on  Eubalacna  gladalis  (Bonn.).     Bull.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  26,  p.  273-275, 

pi.  46-50. 
1916.     Monographs  of  the  Pacific  Cetacea.     II. —  The  Sei  Whale  (Balacnoptcra  borcalis  Lesson).     1. 

History,  habits,  external  anatomy,  osteology,  ijnd  relationship.     Mem.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist., 

new  ser.,  vol.  1,  pt.  6,  p.  289-388,  pi.  29-42,  38  text-figs. 
Beneden,  P.  J.  van. 

1859.     Note  sur  une  nouvelle  espece  de  distome,  le  geant  de  sa  famille,  habitant  le  foie  d'une  baleine, 

nommee  Distoma  goliath,  V.  Ben.     Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  2,  vol.  5,  p.  231-233, 

Ipl. 
1868.     Les  squelettes  de  cetaces  et  les  musecs  qui  les  renferment.     Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles, 

ser.  2,  vol.  25,  p.  88-125.     (An  attempt  to  list  the  preserved  specimens  of  Cetacea.) 
ISCiO.     Les  baleinopteres  du  nord  de  1'Atlantiquc.     Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  2,  vol.  27,  no.  4, 

p.  285-291,  1  pi. 
1880.     [On  a  Eubalaena  killed  at  Charleston,  S.  C.]     Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  2,  vol.  49, 

p.  313-315. 

1885.  Sur  1'apparition  d'une  petite  gamme  de  vraies  baleines  sur  les  cotes  est  des  fitats-Unis  d'Amerique. 

Biill.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  3,  vol.  9,  p.  212-214. 

1886.  Histoire  naturelle  de  la  baleine  des  Basques  (Balaena  biscayensis) .     Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg., 

Bruxelles,  ser.  3,  vol.  38,  p.  1^4. 

1887.  Histoire  naturelle  des  balenopteres.     Mem.  Couronnes  et  autres  Mem.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles, 

vol.  41,  p.  1-145. 
1890!     Une  coronule  de  la  baie  de  Saint-Laurent.     Bull.  Acad.  Roy.  Belg.,  Bruxelles,  ser.  3,  vol.  20, 

p.  49-54,  1  pi. 
Bigelow,  H.  B. 

1914.     Explorations  in  the  Gulf  of  Maine,  July  and  August,  1912,  by  the  U.  S.  Fisheries  schooner  Grampus. 

Oceanography  and  notes  on  the  plankton.     Bull.  Mus.  Comp.  Zool.,  vol.  58,  p.  29-147,  pi.  1-9. 
Borgstrom,  E. 

1S92.     Ueber  Krliinnrhi/iicliiis  tiirbinclla,  bremcollis  und  porrigcns.      Bihang  till  K.  Svenska  Vet.-Akad. 

Handlingar,  vol.  17,  part  4,  no.  10,  60  pp.,  4  pis. 
Braun,  M. 

1904.     Ueber  Wale  und  ihre  Parasiten.     Bericht  iiber  Sitzungen,  in  Schriften  d.  Physikalisch-oeconomisch. 
Ges.  Kiiiiigsberg,  vol.  45,  p.  71-79. 

(317) 


318  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Brown,  Robert. 

1868.     Notes  on  the  history  and  geographical  relations  of  the  Cetacea  frequenting  Davis  Strait  and 

Baffin's  Bay.     Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1868,  p.  533-556. 
Buchet,  Gaston. 

1895.     De  la  baleine  des  Basques  dans  les  eaux  islandaises  et  de  1'aspect  des  grands  cetaces  a  la  mer. 

Mem.  Soc.  Zool.  de  France,  vol.  8,  p.  229-231,  pi.  6-8. 
Carte,  Alexander,  and  Macalister,  Alexander. 

1868.     On  the  anatomy  of  Balaenoptera  rostrata.     Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  London,  1868,  p.  201-261,  pi.  4-7. 
Cocks,  A.  H. 

1887.     The  finwhale  fishery  of  1886  on  the  Lapland  coast.     Zoologist,  ser.  3,  vol.  11,  p.  207-222. 
Collett,  Robert. 

1886.     On  the  external  characters  of  Rudolphi's  Rorqual  (Balaenoptera  borealis).     Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London, 

1886,  p.  243-265,  pi.  25-26,  text-fig.  A-G. 
1909.     A  few  notes  on  the  whale  Balacna  glacialis  and  its  capture  in  recent  years  in  the  North  Atlantic 

by  Norwegian  whalers.    Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1909,  p.  91-98,  pi.  25-27. 
Cope,  E.  D. 

1865.     Note  on  a  species  of  Hunchback  Whale.     Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  1865,  p.  178-181. 

(Description  of  Megaptera  osphyia  from  Maine.) 
De  Kay,  J.  E. 

1842.     Zoology  of  New-York,  or  the  New-York  fauna Mammalia.     Nat.  Hist,  of  New  York,  part  1, 

xv  +  146  pp.,  33  pis. 
Delage,  Yves. 

1885.     Histoire  du  Balaenoptera  musculus  echoue  sur  la  plage  de  Langrune.     Arch,  de  Zool.  Exp.  et  Gen., 

ser.  2,  vol.  3  bis,  suppl.,  art.  1,  152  pp.,  20  pis. 
Dubar,  F. 

1828.     Osteographie  de  la  baleine  echouee  a  1'est  du  port  d'Ostende  le  4  novembre  1827;   precedee  d'une 

notice  sur  la  decouverte  et  la  dissection  de  ce  cetacee.     Bruxelles:  64  pp.,  13  pis. 
Dudley,  Paul. 

1734.     An  essay  upon  the  natural  history  of  whales,with  a  particular  account  of  the  ambergris,  found  in 
the  Sperma  Ceti  whale.     Phil.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  London,  Abridgement,  vol.  7,  pt.  3,  p.  424-431. 
See  Phil.  Trans.,  1725,  for  original  paper. 
Dwight,  Thomas. 

1872.     Description  of  the  whale  (Balaenoptera  musculus  Auct.)  in  the  possession  of  the  Society:    with 
remarks  on  the  classification  of  Fin  Whales.     Mem.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  vol.  2,  p.  203-230, 
pis.  6,  7,  text-fig.  1-11. 
Egede,  Hans. 

1745.     A  description  of  Greenland.     Shewing  the  natural  history,  situation,  boundaries,  and  face  of  that 

country;   etc.     (Translated  from  the  Danish.)     London:  xx  +  220  pp.,  illus. 
Eschricht,  D.  E. 

1849.     Zoologisch-anatomisch-physiologische  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  nordischen  \Vallthiere.     Leipzig: 

4to,  xvi  +  206  pp.,  14  plates. 
1860.     Memoire  sur  les  baleines  franches  du  golfe  Biscayen.     Rev.  et  Mag.  de  Zool.,  ser.  2,  vol.  12,  p. 

227-230. 
Fabricius,  Otho. 

1780.     Fauna  Groenlandica,  systematice  sistens  animalia  Groenlandiae  occidentalis  hactenus  indagata, 

etc.     Copenhagen  and  Leipsic:   xvi  +  452  pp.,  1  pi. 

1818.     Om  Stub-Hvalen,  Balaena  hoops.     K.  Dansk.  Vid.-Selsk.  Skrift.,  vol.  6,  p.  63  (not  seen). 
Fcnger,  F.  A. 

1913.     'Longshore  whaling  in  the  Grenadines.     Outing  Mag.,  1913,  p.  664-679. 


LITERATURE.  319 

Flower,  W.  H. 

1864.     Notes  on  the  skeletons  of  whales  in  the  principal  museums  of  Holland  and  Belgium,  with  descrip- 
tions of  two  species  apparently  new  to  science.     Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1864,  p.  384-420,  fig. 
1-17. 
Gasco,  F. 

1879.     II  balenotto  catturato  nel  1854  a  San  Sebastiano  (Spagna)  (Balaena  biscayensis,  Eschricht)  per 

la  prima  volta  descritto.     Ann.  Mus.  Civ.  Stor.  Nat.  Geneva,  vol.  14,  p.  573-608. 
(lervais,  Paul. 

1864.     Cetaces  des  cotes  francaises  de  la  Mediterranee.     Comptes  Rendus  Acad.  Sci.  Paris,  vol.  59,  p.' 

876-881. 

1871.     Remarques  sur  1'anatomie  des  ce"taces  de  la  division  des  Balenides  tiroes  de  1'exatncn  des  pieces 
relatives  a  ces  animaux  qui  sont  conservees  au  Museum.     Nouv.  Arch.  Mus.  d'Hist.  Nat.  Paris, 
vol.  7,  p.  65-146,  pi.  3-10. 
Goodall,  T.  B. 

1913.     With  the  whalers  at  Durban,  and  a  few  notes  on  the  anatomy  of  the  Humpback  Whale  (Me.gaptera 

hoops).     Zoologist,  ser.  4,  vol.  17,  p.  201-121,  pi.  1. 
Guldberg,  G.  A. 

1885.  On  the  existence  of  a  fourth  species  of  the  genus  Balaenoptera.     Journ.  Anat.  and  Phys.,  vol.  19, 

p.  293-302. 

1886.  Bidrag  til  Cetaceernes  Biologi.     Oin  Forplantningen  og  Draegtigheden  hos  de  nordatlantiske 

Bardehvaler.     Forhandl.  Vid.-Selsk.  Christiania  for  1886,  no.  9,  56  pp. 

1887.  Zur  Biologic  der  nordatlantischen  Finwalarten.     Zool.  Jahrbiichcr,  vol.  2,  p.  127-174. 

1891.     Bidrag  til  n0iere  Kundskab  om  Atlanterhavets  Rethval  (Evbalaena  biscayensis,  Eschricht).     For- 
handl. Vid.-Selsk.  Christiania,  1891,  no.  8,  14  pp. 

1903.  Ueberdie  Wanderungen  verschiedener  Bartenwale.     [1.]     Biol.  Centralbl.,  vol.  23,  p.  803-816. 

1904.  Ueber  die  Wanderungen  verschiedener  Bartenwale.     [2.]     Biol.  Centralbl.,  vol.  24,  p.  371-396. 
1904a.     Die  Waltiere  des  Konigsspiegels.     Zool.  Annalen  (Wurzburg),  vol.  1,  p.  29—40. 

1907.     Ueber  das  Verfahren  bei    Berechnung  des  Rauminhaltes  und  Gewichtes  der   grossen  \Valtiere. 

Forhandl.  Vid.-Selsk.  Christiania  for  1907,  no.  3,  12  pp. 
Hamilton,  J.  E. 

1915.  Report  to  the  Committee  ....  appointed  to  investigate  the  biological  problems  incidental  to  the 

Belmullet  Whaling  Station.     Rept.  84th  Meeting  British  Assn.  Adv.  Sci.,  1914,  p.  125-161,  pis. 
3,  4,  2  text-figs. 

1916.  Report,  in  Report  of  the  Committee  ....  appointed  to  investigate  the  biological  problems  incidental 

to  the  Belmullet  Whaling  Station.     Rept.  85th  Meeting  British  Assn.  Adv.  Sci.,  1915,  p.  124- 
146,  4  text-figs. 

Haupt,  Paul. 

1907.    Jonah's  Whale.     Proc.  Amer.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol.  47,  p.  151-164. 

Holder,  J.  B. 

1883.     The  Atlantic  Right  Whales:   A  contribution,  embracing  an  examination  of     I.     The  exterior  char- 
acters and  osteology  of  a  cisarctic  Right  Whale  —  male.     II.     The  exterior  characters  of  a  cis- 

arctic   Right   Whah female.     III.     The   osteology   of  a  cisarctic    Right   Whale  —  sex  not 

known.     To  which  is  added  a  concise  resume  of  historical  mention  relating  to  the  present  and 
allied  species.     Bull.  Amer.  Mus.  Xat.  Hist.,  vol.  1,  p.  99-137,  pi.  10-13. 

,Japha,  Arnold. 

1905.  Ueber  den  Bau  der  Haut  des  Seihwales  (Balaenoptera  borealis,  Lesson).     Zool.  Anzeiger,  vol.  29, 

p.  442-145. 

1911.     Die  Haare  der  Waltiere.     Zool.  Jalirlmrher,  Abth.  f.  Anat.,  vol.  32,  pt.  1,  p.  1-43,  pi.  1-3,  4  text- 
figs. 


320  ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 

Knox,  Robert. 

1833—1.     Account  of  the  dissection  of  a  young  rorqual,  or  short  whalebone  whale,  (the  BaJaena  rostraia 
of  Fabricius);    with  a  few  observations  on  the  anatomy  of  the  foetal  Mysticetus.     Proc.  Roy. 
Soc.  Edinburgh,  vol.  1,  p.  63-65. 
Kukenthal,  Willy. 

1893.     Vergleichend-anatomische  und  entwickelungsgeschichtliche  Untersuchungen  an  Walthieren. 

Denkschr.  Med.-Nat.  Ges.  Jena,  vol.  3,  x  +  448  pp.,  25  pis.,  124  text-figs. 
Kunze,  A. 

1912.     Uebcr  die  Brustflosse  der  Wale.     Zool.  Jahrbucher,  Abt.  f.  Anat.,  vol.  32,  p.  577-651,  pi.  3:;  35. 
Lillie,  D.  G. 

1910.  Observations  on  the  anatomy  and  general  biology  of  some  members  of  the  larger  Cetacea.      Proc. 

Zool.  Soc.  London,  1910,  p.  769-792,  pi.  74,  text-fig.  69-78. 
Lilljeborg,  Wilhelm. 

1867.     On  two  subfossil  whales  discovered  in  Sweden.     Nova  Acta  Soc.  Sci.  Upsala,  ser.  3,  vol.  6,  no.  6, 

48  pp.,  11  pis. 
Lindsay,  D.  M. 

1911.  A  voyage  to  the  Arctic  in  the  whaler  Aurora.     Boston:  8vo,  p.  i-ix,  11-223,  illus. 
Lonnberg,  Einar. 

1892.     Anatomische  Studien  ueber  skandinavische  Cestoden.     II.     Zwei  Parasiten  aus  Walfischen  und 
zwei  aus  Lamna  cornubica.     Kongl.  Svenska  Vet.-Akad.  Handl.,  vol.  24,  no.  16,  p.  1-28,  1  pi. 

1910.  The  pelvic  bones  of  some  Cetacea.     Arkiv  for  Zoologi,  vol.  7,  no.  10,  15  pp.,  12  figs. 
Low,  A.  P. 

1906.     Report  on  the  Dominion  Government  Expedition  to  Hudson  Bay  and  the  Arctic  Islands  on  board 
the  D.  G.  S.  Neptune,  1903-1904.     Ottawa:  8vo,  xviii  +  355  pp.,  illus.     (Chapter  10,  Whaling.) 
Lutken,  C.  F. 

1873.     Bidrag  til  Kundskab  om  Arterne  af  Slacgten  Cyamus  Latr.  eller  Hvallusene.     Vulonsk.  Selsk. 

Skr.,  Kjobcnhavn,  ser.  5,  vol.  10,  no.  3,  p.  229-284,  +i-iii,  pi.  1-4. 
Malm,  A.  W. 

1867.     Monographic  illustree  du  baleinoptere  trouve  le  29  Octobre  1865  sur  la  cote  occidentale  de  Suede. 

Stockholm:  4to,  xxvi  +110  pp.,  20  pis.,  3  text-figs. 
Millais,  J.  G. 

1906.     The  mammals  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.     Vol.3.     London:  4to,  xii  +  384  pp.,  illus. 
Morch,  J.  A. 

1911.  On  the  natural  history  of  whalebone  whales.     Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1911,  p.  661-670,  text-fig. 

160-163. 
Moseley,  H.  N. 

1879.     Notes  by  a  naturalist  on  the  'Challenger,'  being  an  account  of  various  observations  made  during 
the  voyage  of  H.  M.  S.  'Challenger'  round  the  world,  in  the  years  1872-1876.     London:   xvi  + 
620  pp.,  illus. 
Murie,  James. 

1865.     On  the  anatomy  of  a  fin-whale  (Physalus  antiquontm,  Gray)  captured  near  Gravesend.     Proc. 

Zool.  Soc.  London,  1865,  p.  206-227,  text-fig.  1-4. 
Perrin,  J.  B. 

1870.     Notes  on  the  anatomy  of  Balaenoptera  rostrata.     Proc.  Zool.  Soc.  London,  1870,  p.  805  SIT. 
Rabot,  Charles. 

1914.     The  whale  fisheries  of  the  world.     Smithsonian  Report  for  1913,  p.  481-489,  pi.  1-3. 
Racovitza,  E.  G. 

1903.     Expedition  antarctique  Beige.     Resultats  du  voyage  du  S.  Y.  lielgli-a  en  1897-1898-1899,  etc. 
Cetaces.     Antwerp:   144  pp.,  4  pis. 


LITERATURE.  321 

Rawitx,  1?. 

I'.MM).     I'cber  Mi-ijni>lirn  IHMI/I.I  Fahr.,  nehst   Hemerkungen  zur  Biologic  dcr  nonvcgischen  Mystacoceten. 

Arch.  I.  Naturg.,  vol.  (Hi,  part  1,  p.  71-114,  pi.  5. 
Sars,  G.  O. 

is~."i.    ()in   "  Blaahvalcn"    (Balaenoptera   xililmltlii,   Gray)   med   Bemaerkninger   oin   nogle  andre  vcd 
Finniiirkens  KystiT  forekoinmcnde  Havdyr.  Forhandl.  Vid.-Selsk.     Christiania,  1874,  p.  227- 
241,  1  pi. 
1X79.     Bidrag  til  en  n^iere  Characterotik  af  vore  Burdehvalcr.     Forhandl.  Vid.-Selsk.     Christiania,  1878, 

art.  15,  19  pp.,  4  pis. 
Schulte,   H.   von  \\. 

191(1.     Monographs  of  the  Pacific  Cetacea.     II.     The  Sei  Whale  (Balamoptcra  borcalis  Lesson).     2. 
Anatomy  of  a  foetus  of  Balaenoptera  borvalis.     Mem.  Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.,  new  ser.,  vol.  1, 
part  G,  p.  389-502,  pi.  43-57. 
Scorcsby,  'William. 

1820.     An  account  of  the  Arctic  Regions,  with  a  history  and  description  of  the  northern  whale-fishery. 

Edinburgh:  2  vols.,  illus. 
Starlmck,  Alexander. 

1878.     History  of  the  American  whale  fishery  from  its  earliest  inception  to  the  year  1870.     Rept.  U.  S. 

Commr.  Fish  and  Fisheries  for  1875-0,  p.  1-708,  pi.  1-0. 
Stevenson,  C.  H. 

1907.     Whalebone:  its  production  and  utilization.     U.  S.  Bureau  Fisheries,  doc.  no.  020,  12  pp.,  3  pis. 
Struthers,  John. 

1871.  On  some  points  in   the  anatomy  of  a  Great  Fin-Whale  (Balaenoptera  musculus).     Journ.  Anat. 

and  Phys.,  ser.  2,  vol.  5,  p.  107-125,  pis.  G,  7. 

1872.  On  the  cervical  vertebrae  and  their  articulations  in  Fin-Whales.     Journ.  Anat.  and  Phys.,  ser.  '2, 

vol.  G,  p.  1-55,  pis.  1,  2. 
1889.    Memoir  on  the  anatomy  of  the  Humpback  Whale,   Megaptera  longimana.     Reprint  of  the  follow- 

ing: 
1887-9.    On  some  points  in  the  anatomy  of  a  Megaptera  longimana.     Journ.  Anat.  and  Phys.,  1887, 

vol.  22,  p.  109-125,  pis.  5,  G;   1888,  vol.  22,  p.  240-282,  pi.  10-12;  p.  441-460,  629-654;  vol.  23, 

p.  124-163,  pi.  G;  1889,  vol.  23,  p.  308-335,  358-373. 
1S93.     On  the  rudimentary  hind-limb  of  a  Great  Fin-Whale  (Balaenoptefa  mtutculus)  in  comparison  with 

those  of  the  Humpback  Whale  and  the  Greenland  Right-Whale.     Journ.  Anat.  and  Phys., 

vol.  27,  p.  291-335,  pi.  17-20. 
True,  F.  W. 

1898.     On  the  nomenclature  of  the  whalebone  whales  of  the  tenth  edition  of  Linnaeus's  Systema  Naturae. 

Proc.  1'.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  vol.  21,  p.  617-635. 
1903.     On  some  photographs  of  living  Finback  Whales  from  Newfoundland.     Smithsonian  Misc.  Coll., 

vol.  45,  p.  91-94,  pi.  24-20. 
1903a.     First  record  of  the  Pollack  Whale  (Balacnopte.ru  borealis)  in  the  western  North  Atlantic.     Science, 

new  ser.,  vol.  17,  p.  150. 
1901.     The  whalebone  whales  of  the  western  North  Atlantic  compared  with  those  occurring  in  European 

waters,  with  some  observations  on  the  species  of  the  North  Pacific.     Smithsonian  Contrib.  to 

Knowl.,  vol.  33,  p.  1-332,  pi.  1-50,  text-fig.  1-97. 
1912.     The  genera  of  fossil  whalebone  whales  allied  to  Balaenoptera.     Smithsonian  Misc.  Coll.,  vol.  59, 

no.  6,  p.  1-8. 
Turner,  William. 

1870.    An  account  of  the  Great  Finner  Whale  [Balaenoptera  xil>l><il<lii)  stranded  at  Longniddry.     I'art  1. 

The  soft  parts.     Trans.  Roy.  Sue.  Edinburgh,  vol.  26,  p.  197-251,  pi.  5  S. 


322 


ALLEN:  NEW  ENGLAND  WHALEBONE  WHALES. 


Turner,  William  (continued). 

1871.     On  the  so-called  two-headed  ribs  in  whales  and  in  man.     Journ.  Anat.  and  Phys.,  vol.  5  (or  SIT.  '2. 

vol.  4),  p.  348-361. 
1871a.     On  the  transverse  processes  of  the  seventh  cervical  vertebra  in  Balacnoptcra  sibbaldii.     Journ. 

Anat.  and  Phys.,  vol.  5,  p.  361-362.     (Lower  transverse  process  developed  in  a  foetus.) 
1882.     A  specimen  of  Rudolphi's  Whale  (Balacnoptcra  borcalis  or  laticcps)  captured  in  the  Firth  of  Forth. 

Journ.  Anat.  and  Phys.,  vol.  16,  p.  471-484. 
1892.     The  Lesser  Rorqual  (Balaenoptera  rostrata)  in  the  Scottish  seas,  with  observations  on  its  anatomy. 

Proc.  Roy.  Soc.  Edinburgh,  vol.  19,  p.  36-75,  text-fig.  1^. 
1905.     On  Penclla  balacnoptcrae:    a  crustacean,  parasitic  on  a  Finner  Whale,  Balaenoptera  musculus. 

Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  Edinburgh,  vol.  41,  p.  409-434,  pi.  1-4. 

1913.  The  Right  Whale  of  the  North  Atlantic,  Balacna  biscaycnsis:  its  skeleton  described  and  compared 

with  that  of  the  Greenland  Right  Whale,  Balacna  mysticctus.     Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  Edinburgh, 
vol.  48,  p.  8S9-922,  pi.  1-3,  text-fig.  16-25. 

1914.  The  baleen  whales  of  the  South  Atlantic.     Proc.  Roy.  Soc.  Edinburgh,  vol.  35,  p.  11-21,  text-fig. 

1-1. 
Verrill,  A.  E. 

1902.  The  Bermuda  Islands.  An  account  of  their  scenery,  climate,  productions,  physiography,  natural 
history  and  geology,  with  sketches  of  their  discovery  and  early  history,  and  the  changes  in  their 
flora  and  fauna  due  to  man.  New  Haven:  8vo,  x  +  548  pp.,  illus.  (Whales,  p.  270-278.) 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  .WHICH  BORROWED 

"H  SCI'.  'JBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


SENT  ON  ILL 

NOV  0  3  1994 

U.  C.  BERKELEY 

General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


